The Sort Of Real Story About How NORAD Tracks Santa — And WHY!

The Sort Of Real Story About How NORAD Tracks Santa — And WHY!
The Sort Of Real Story About How NORAD Tracks Santa — And WHY!

AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION SIMILAR TO BUT MAYBE NOT THE SAME AS NORAD HEADQUARTERS IN COLORADO: Ho. Ho. Ho. It may be hard to believe but the new F-35 sensors are so sensitive they can pick up Santa’s laughter from 1,300 miles away. It’s all part of NORAD’s new efforts to improve their ability to get…

‘It’s Time To Wake Up’: Sen. McCain At Naval Academy

‘It’s Time To Wake Up’: Sen. McCain At Naval Academy
‘It’s Time To Wake Up’: Sen. McCain At Naval Academy

A clarion call. Our readers (being wise and smart) know what that means. Sen. John McCain issued one last night in a speech to the next generation of naval leaders at Annapolis. McCain’s words are aimed straight at the heart of the Republican Party and of our country: “We have to fight. We have to…

Trump Acts To Revitalize America’s Defense Industrial Base

Trump Acts To Revitalize America’s Defense Industrial Base
Trump Acts To Revitalize America’s Defense Industrial Base

President Donald Trump has identified a fact few of his recent predecessors have understood: the Defense Industrial Base of the United States (DIB) is a critical component of our national security. The DIB is more important than any individual weapons program – be it an aircraft carrier, long range bomber, or high-tech tank.  But for too…

US Must Counter Putin, Push NATO To Rearm

US Must Counter Putin, Push NATO To Rearm
US Must Counter Putin, Push NATO To Rearm

The United States — preoccupied with the wars of the Middle East and a pivot to Asia — has largely left the global playing field to Russian President Putin and must now lead NATO by forging a new consensus on the Russian threat and investing in new weapons. The correlation of forces in the European theater has arguably…

Bring Back Artillery Submunitions; Russian Threat Too Great

Bring Back Artillery Submunitions; Russian Threat Too Great
Bring Back Artillery Submunitions; Russian Threat Too Great

Bob Scales has run a lot of war games. I covered him doing them back in the late 1990s. Plus he’s held a lot of the most important jobs in the Army, including at the Army’s home of artillery, Fort Sill. He was around when the battle was on to ban landmines, which bear many similarities…

US Must Do More To Deter ‘Reckless’ Russia: Farkas

US Must Do More To Deter ‘Reckless’ Russia: Farkas
US Must Do More To Deter ‘Reckless’ Russia: Farkas

WASHINGTON: Until 5pm last Friday, Evelyn Farkas was the Pentagon’s top policy expert on Russia. At 8am this morning, the recently liberated Farkas proposed a Russia policy much more assertive than what her former superiors have  publicly endorsed — at least, so far. She wants the US to consider sending (defensive) lethal weapons to Ukraine,…

We’ll Unveil Third Offset Details In FY17 Budget, Except The Black Part: Bob Work

We’ll Unveil Third Offset Details In FY17 Budget, Except The Black Part: Bob Work
We’ll Unveil Third Offset Details In FY17 Budget, Except The Black Part: Bob Work

WASHINGTON: This time last year, top Pentagon officials were very publicly touting the Pentagon’s new Third Offset Strategy. Then offset went into stealth mode as people went behind closed doors to wrestle with what it would actually be. So, I asked Deputy Secretary Bob Work yesterday, what’s up with offset? Work’s response made clear the concept…

Why We Need A Cyber Doctrine Now

We’ve heard national security leaders at the highest levels say it repeatedly: we are not prepared for cyber war. Gen. Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency and commander of U.S. Cyber Command, made it clear when he rated America’s readiness for addressing a catastrophic cyber attack “three on a scale of ten.” Homeland…

Is Nuclear Deterrence Out of Date?

Over the next 25 years or so, the United States plans to recapitalize its triad of submarines, bombers, and missiles that deliver strategic nuclear weapons, building new versions of these weapons to extend a 50-year-old force structure for another half century. Yet today’s strategic environment is not that of the 1960s, and tomorrow’s may differ…