Congress and China have emerged as the primary culprits for the weakening the US defense industrial base. Those are the most striking findings of a new White House report that takes a deep-dive into the state of defense manufacturing in the United States, sounding alarm bells over the decline in capability and the rise of China’s industrial might.
By Paul McLeary and Colin ClarkModernizing our supply chain is a national security imperative
Closing supply chain gaps in innovating technology will reposition the industrial base to be a strategic source of value.
The Vice President joined Mattis, the Centcom chief, and Trump’s NATO Ambassador in slamming Russian and Chinese moves. The push comes just before a major White House report takes even more specific aim at China’s industrial policies.
By Paul McLeary
“We’re not going to pretend it’s easy,” Rear Adm. Keith Blount, assistant chief of the Naval Staff told reporters. “But this isn’t unfathomably difficult for us. We are enjoying going back into the big time, and this is one of those big steps on that ladder. It’s hugely exciting and should be reassuring to those back home and to those on this side of the Atlantic.”
By Paul McLeary
102 F-35As (Air Force) for $89.2 million apiece, down 5.4 percent from LRIP 10;
25 F-35Bs (Marines & Royal Navy) for $115.5 million each, down 5.7 percent; and 14 F-35Cs (US Navy) for $107.7 million each, down 11.1 percent.
WASHINGTON: The first-ever real-world strike by an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is a big symbolic moment, as the Pentagon is well aware. It’s also a milestone towards making the F-35 a close-support aircraft to bomb targets threatening US ground troops, replacing the beloved A-10 Warthog. That’s why the military not only had a press release…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
NAVAL STATION NORFOLK: The largest ship in British naval history, the carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, can move four F-35Bs on her two huge elevators up to her decks in just a few minutes, allowing the ship to put its most potent strike assets into the air in minutes. The entire ship is laced with fiber-optic…
By Colin Clark
The big news about the $674.4 billion defense appropriation that conferees agreed to yesterday is that, for the first time in nine years, it’s on time. But in a budget this big, even the “small” items are billions of dollars, and there are plenty of devils in them thar details.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
ROC-X – The solution to organic precision strike capabilities
At AUSA Global Force 2024, IAI presented integrated, AI-driven combat systems – both manned and unmanned – that are opening new opportunities on the battlefield.
Japan and South Korea are getting new generations of sub-hunting and intelligence-gathering aircraft as China, North Korea, and Russia continue to push more assets into the waters of the Pacific.
By Paul McLeary
As the Navy sorties 30 ships from Norfolk and surrounding bases, a few ships will be heading back in short order to assist in the cleanup. The amphibious ships USS Kearsarge and USS Arlington, along with hospital ship USNS Comfort, have all loaded up on supplies and have put out to sea.
By Paul McLeary
ABOARD THE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN: The Navy dragged its feet for years after committing to buy the F-35C for carrier operations. They worried it would be too expensive to maintain. They worried the tailhook problems would persist. They worried it was too heavy. Let’s face it: the Navy leadership was just worried. After all, they…
By Colin Clark
WASHINGTON: Within the next several weeks, both Russia and NATO will kick off some of the largest military exercises since the end of the Cold War. Hundreds of thousands of troops, tens of thousands of vehicles, hundreds of aircraft, and dozens of warships will charge into action in a series of mock engagements stretching from…
By Paul McLeary
Loaded with jet fuel, the drones will vastly extend the ranges of carrier-based aircraft operating in the expanses of the western Pacific. That lets the Navy strike deeper into China’s layered defenses while keeping the big decks out of range of most of China’s anti-ship missiles.
By Paul McLeary
Today, the Defense Department announced that MALD-X (Miniature Air-Launched Decoy) successfully completed a “a complex free flight demonstration of advanced electronic warfare techniques.”
By Colin Clark
While officials as senior as Chief of Staff Mark Milley have previously talked about Army hypersonics in general terms, today’s statements by both the Army’s Russell and OSD’s Miller were unequivocal: The Army wants a ground-launched hypersonic weapon.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
