Poland is excited to have more US troops on the way, but military leaders warned this week that the effort to move 12,000 US troops out of Germany will take months for the planning along.
By Paul McLearyDefense Secretary Mark Esper portrayed the plan as a strategic shift. President Trump said, “we’re reducing the force because [Germany is] not paying their bills.” Criticism from both sides of the aisle was swift.
By Paul McLearyGen. Tod Wolters reveals he’s built new infrastructure in Spain, waiting for the Navy to add two more destroyers to the four already there.
By Paul McLearyGeneral Counsel Paul Nay directed DoD officials to “preserve all documents, records, and writings, and any associated attachments, in any format,” that relate to the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.
By Paul McLearySenators, generals, and the acting Defense Secretary all tried to present a united front on Tuesday, but questions remain.
By Paul McLearyAs the new National Defense Strategy shifts the U.S. armed forces’ focus from combating violent extremists to confronting China and Russia, Raytheon is offering an array of multi-domain capabilities to modernize the Army “not just for today but tomorrow,” Kim Ernzen, executive vice president of the company’s Land Warfare Systems, says. Raytheon is particularly well…
By Otto Kreisher [Sponsored by Raytheon]ARLINGTON: Against terrorists in Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq, US forces are firing smart weapons like Hellfire missiles as fast as industry can build them — or faster. Against a well-armed adversary like Russia or China, we might run out. That’s why the military is making a major multi-year investment in precision weapons, one that the…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: The F-35A demonstrated higher mission capable rates during its just-concluded European deployment than the fourth generation aircraft it is replacing. “It’s very important to know that we are experiencing reliability rates rates that are unheard of in our legacy fleet with this jet. We’ve seen a very, very high rate of success with just…
By Colin ClarkARLINGTON: Russia no longer owns the airwaves in Eastern Europe. Two decades after the US Army unilaterally disarmed its electronic warfare branch, two years after Russian jamming crippled Ukrainian units, the Germany-based 2nd Cavalry Regiment is field-testing new EW gear. “We have kit in Europe today,” said Doug Wiltsie, director of the Army’s recently created…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: For the first time, an important United States military base, one where a great deal of highly classified communications, intelligence and operations occur, sits within a few miles of a military competitor, China. Where? Djibouti, the tiny African state that sits on the Horn of Africa across from Yemen and sits astride the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. It…
By Colin ClarkARLINGTON: Harry Harris has to be the Army’s favorite admiral. The chief of Pacific Command has called for Army-owned anti-ship missiles. He has enthused over the Army’s new warfare concept, and now he is planning a major inter-service exercise to work out what that Multi-Domain Battle concept means in practice. “We are starting to put…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.NATIONAL HARBOR: Russia could hinder US reinforcements headed to Europe in the event of a major war, warned the recently retired Supreme Allied Commander, Gen. Philip Breedlove. It’s well known Russian radars, missiles, and strike planes — “Anti-Access/Area Denial” systems — threaten ships and aircraft across wide swathes of the Black Sea, Eastern Europe, and…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: Retired Gen. Philip Breedlove, just weeks after retiring as NATO’s Supreme Commander, Europe, urged the alliance to reopen “a line of communication” with the Kremlin. While Breedlove’s tenure as SACEUR was wracked by the annexation of Crimea, the invasion of eastern Ukraine, and NATO’s race to strengthen its defenses, his focus was not on…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
What are we going to do about the Russian hacks that have wrought havoc across the entire political spectrum and are rapidly shifting from being an embarrassment to, possibly, being strategically crippling? The body count of ruined careers aside, sizeable harm is being done to our political process and a likely intelligence loss as foreign actors rummage…
By John Quigg