CAPITOL HILL: The war ground on today between San. John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and his colleague Sen. Richard Shelby on the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee. Shelby, knowing he had a policy friend in Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James, asked her about the Russian-made RD-180 rocket engine essential to US satellite launches…
By Colin ClarkMillennium Space Systems is delivering on critical missile tracking constellation
With programs like MTC, Millennium Space Systems is redefining what it means to be an operational prime – rapidly delivering operational small sat constellations on rapid timelines.
PENTAGON: Of the four armed services’ budget plans for 2017, the one most likely to make Congress apoplectic is the Navy’s. On top of reintroducing a cruiser modernization plan repeatedly rejected by the Hill, the Navy proposes deactivating a carrier air wing — which tangles with the touchy issue of how many carriers the US…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
UPDATED: Adds DepSecDef Explanation For Additional LCS PENTAGON: “We don’t have enough money to do everything we want to do,” Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work told me in an exclusive 85-minute interview in his E-Ring Pentagon office. “So what we’re doing this year, Sydney, is we are trying to prepare as many demonstrations on advanced…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
WASHINGTON: The day before the Defense Department unveils a budget that cuts the Littoral Combat Ship program, news broke that two top senators had slammed the controversial vessel in a letter to the Chief of Naval Operations. That letter and our analysis follow: https://www.scribd.com/doc/298556678/160205-McCain-Reed-LCS-Letter-to-SecNav-and-CNO Senate Armed Services Committee chairman — and decorated Navy pilot — John McCain is…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
CAPITOL HILL: It turns out Navy pilots like to breathe. That’s a potential problem in the Navy’s mainstay fighter, the F-18 Hornet, which is suffering failures of its On-Board Oxygen Generation System (OBOGS). While rare, a single case of in-flight oxygen deprivation could potentially kill the pilot, destroy a $30 million to $60 million aircraft, or…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
[UPDATED with total hiring figures] WASHINGTON: Navy demand for submarines is so strong that sub-builder Electric Boat is betting on growth, despite the bleak budget outlook for defense in general. Connecticut congressman Joe Courtney, the top Democrat on the House seapower subcommittee, exulted in a statement this morning that his home state yard expects to add…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
- Air Warfare, budget, Congress, Land Warfare, Naval Warfare, Networks & Digital Warfare, Space, Threats
Congress Must Kill Sequester To Pay For Pacific Pivot: CSIS
WASHINGTON: If the United States is serious about “rebalancing” to Asia, it needs to invest some serious cash. Strategic small change won’t deter China or reassure our increasingly anxious allies, says a new report from the influential Center for Strategic & International Studies. And that means the CSIS study’s sponsor — Congress — must get its…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
What’s new in naval radars and missiles: Defending the Pacific
Defending U.S. naval forces in the Pacific, Red Sea, and elsewhere require a range of systems from close-in weapons to anti-ballistic missiles.
UPDATED: SecDef Says Crew Got Lost WASHINGTON: Iran violated international law by seizing two disabled US Navy vessels adrift in Iranian waters, according to the powerful chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the Iranians provided assurances that the sailors were being afforded “the care [and] the proper courtesy that you’d…
By Colin Clark
[UPDATED with Adm. Papp comments] SURFACE NAVY ASSOCIATION: In an important step to filling the increasing gap between American’s Arctic strategy and our capabilities, the Coast Guard has released its “notional program schedule [and] notional Polar Icebreaker requirements” for two new heavy icebreakers today. “This will be available to industry at noon today and I’m sure…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
[UPDATED with Army comment] WASHINGTON: Under pressure from Sen. John McCain, Acting Army Secretary Eric Fanning will step aside until the Senate confirms his nomination as secretary. The official reason is a 1998 statute about nominees not being allowed to do the job de facto before they’re legally confirmed for it. The real reasons, however, may be Guantanamo…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
CAPITOL HILL: The short view: Congressman slams Air Force for weather satellite fiasco. Long view: Congress, White House, Air Force, NASA, Commerce Department have all screwed up US weather satellite programs. “We could have saved the Air Force and the Congress a lot of aggravation if we put a half of a billion dollars in…
By Colin Clark
The Navy’s nuclear ballistic submarine replacement is coming online in next year’s budget and the bill will be huge. It is so big, in fact, that Congress has already established a special account outside the normal shipbuilding budget to help ease financial pressure and not disrupt almost every other ship coming under construction. While the…
By Mackenzie Eaglen
CAPITOL HILL: The new Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. John Richardson, previewed a Navy “design for maintaining maritime superiority” this morning. The service will roll it out in January, just before the 2017 budget. While Richardson seems a bit more guarded than his predecessor in his public comments — at least, so far — he did tease…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
The Army has gotten smaller every year since 2011, while the threats have gotten greater. Simply put, America’s Army – our nation’s foundational force since 1775 – is asked to face a dangerous and uncertain world with reduced and uncertain resources. It is confronted by turmoil abroad and hindered at home by politicians unable or…
By Gordon Sullivan