WASHINGTON: The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace just released what a spokesman calls the “the first and only unclassified strategic net assessment of the future security dynamic between China, Japan, and the United States-including relative military capabilities and domestic and external variables.” For those who don’t wallow deeply in the Pentagon’s unique world, a net…
By Colin ClarkMilitary Intelligence Program budget for FY14 is $14.9 billion, DoD says. Does not include OCO money for DoD intel, department says. @colinclarkaol
By Colin ClarkAt 1:03 pm today, the US Air Force launched a robotic space plane that can stay in orbit for over a year. That’s good news for the nation’s troubled space program. The X-37B, as it’s called, is pretty cool — and highly classified. But beyond the veil of secrecy, what’s it really good for? The…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: Former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel, a serious contender to be the next Defense Secretary, may have given us a glimpse of his policies today as he argued today that diplomacy rather than military power is the way to resolve emerging global crises. [Click here for an alternative view from another contender, Michele Flournoy —…
By Otto Kreisher[After meeting this morning with Amb. Susan Rice, Senator Kelly Ayotte, R-NH, spoke to reporters today at a 12noon roundtable at the Foreign Policy Institute’s annual conference, where she promised there “absolutely” would be a hold if Amb. Rice is nominated for Secretary of State — and potentially, a hold on any administration nominee for…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Our clever Chinese friends at Next Media Animation have done it again with a video offering their unique perspective on the scandal that has enveloped two of our top military leaders — and several women. We haven’t pursued these stories with much gusto, keeping our focus on strategy, policy and politics and leaving the prurient…
By Colin ClarkWASHINGTON: The head of Air Force Space Command worries that tightening defense budgets and looming force structure cuts could reduce his critical space and cyber capabilities. “Because these capabilities are so vital, and the need to maintain local and global capabilities, space and cyber capability doesn’t really scale well with force structure reductions,” Air Force…
By Otto KreisherORLANDO: The terrorists who attacked the Benghazi consulate, killing US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and four others, apparently maintained web, cell and radio silence before they acted, giving the US no hint an attack was imminent. “If people do not emit or discuss their behavior, it’s hard to find out what they are going…
By Colin ClarkPENTAGON CITY: Hungry for answers on how to make more effective use of the tens of thousands of hours of video gathered by Predators, Global Hawks and other military eyes in the sky, Air Force officials recently visited NASCAR, the car racing people, to learn better and faster ways of mining video data. “We have…
By Colin ClarkChina unveils a new “stealth” jet, but we don’t know how stealthy it is or when it might fly actual missions. China unveils a new aircraft carrier. Its leaders boast about extending China’s reach, but the carrier doesn’t have any planes and we aren’t sure when they might build them. Monitoring a rapidly developing China,…
By Joan Johnson-FreeseWASHINGTON: Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House intelligence committee, cast doubt today on reports that the Stuxnet and Flamer viruses were the work of the US and Israel. In fact, he argued, it’s against America’s interest to be staging any cyber attacks because the US is so vulnerable to retaliation. “Don’t believe everything you…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.VIRGINIA BEACH, VA: Google will soon make public information about virtually every ship at sea, giving the current location and identity even of American warships. Meanwhile, the company is consulting with the Navy and others about security issues. UPDATED: (3:30 p.m.) Clarified Google Uses Satellite Technology, Not Building Satellites Google paid several million dollars for…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: He may come to regret it, but Gen. Martin Dempsey today offered what may come to define his tenure as the president’s top military advisor, a doctrine that the United States should never send the military to war by itself. Here’s the phrase Dempsey uttered: “The military instrument should never be wielded alone.” Before…
By Colin ClarkWASHINGTON: The Air Force is holding off on filling the skies the next generation of the Reaper UAV. Instead of putting more aircraft into the air that gather more data, the service plans to focus on how to better manage the flood of raw intelligence already streaming in, says one top service officer. The Air…
By Carlo Munoz