Are big, expensive vessels like amphibious ships and carriers too vulnerable in a long-range missile war with Russia or China?
By Paul McLearyPENTAGON: More troops are heading to the US border with Mexico, Pentagon officials said on Friday. That brings the number deployed from the current 5,000 to about 6,000, even as the Pentagon considers transferring close to $4 billion to support the Border Patrol and build infrastructure. About 2,100 of the troops deployed currently are National…
By Paul McLeary“We need to have a secretary of defense; we’ve always had one, so I anticipate we will,” Inhofe told the Defense Writers Group, directly contradicting Trump’s predilection for acting officials. “I think he’s going to nominate someone.”
By Colin ClarkThis year promises to be a year of big changes in how the Defense Department does Cyber — and leaders are warning staffers that it’s not going to be business as usual.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.Shanahan spent much of his first formal (albeit off-camera) Pentagon pressroom briefing as SecDef emphasizing continuity with his ousted predecessor, Gen. Jim Mattis. He made a point of praising Mattis’s National Defense Strategy, America’s allies, and even the press – not exactly favorites of President Donald Trump.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.UPDATED: Trump Announces Government Reopens For 3 Weeks WASHINGTON: The Pentagon won’t be able to release its fiscal year 2020 budget on Feb. 4 as previously planned because it has been caught up in the melee caused down by the 35-day government shutdown. The budget release could be delayed at least one month. The missed…
By Paul McLearyPENTAGON: Military and civilian leaders at the Pentagon are portraying the new Missile Defense Review as a common-sense response to aggressive Chinese and Russian investments in new hypersonic weapons and faster, longer-range missiles. The review marks “a new era in missile defense” undersecretary for policy John Rood said at the Pentagon Thursday. But mostly what…
By Paul McLearyWASHINGTON: The Pentagon is studying options for putting lasers, directed energy weapons, and missile defense systems into space to protect against an array of increasingly advanced ballistic and cruise missiles being developed by China, Russia, and North Korea, a senior Trump administration official said Wednesday. President Trump is set to announce the results of a…
By Paul McLeary“I am opposed to using defense dollars for non-defense purposes,” Rep. Mac Thornberry said. “Seems to me we ought to fund border security needs on their own and not be taking it from other accounts.”
By Paul McLearyPENTAGON: In his first day on the job, acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan gathered civilian leaders of the military services to deliver a simple message: “China, China, China.”
By Paul McLearyPENTAGON: One constant in the abrupt transition from outgoing Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to his deputy, soon to be acting secretary, Patrick Shanahan? The grueling, technical, but crucial business of acquisition reform. For all their differences, Pentagon technocrats, House Democrats, Senate Republicans, and even President Trump can all agree that the Defense Department needs to…
By Paul McLearyThe release of the 2020 defense budget is still over a month away, and it’s already been a wild ride. A look at what has happened, and what might happen next.
By Paul McLearyThe relationship went through a messy ending. Will the president now try and give Mattis the Rex Tillerson treatment?
By Paul McLearyPENTAGON: The Air Force has eked out a victory in the Pentagon’s latest proposal for a Space Force. While many in the Air Force would prefer to keep their current preeminent role in space operations and not create a new service at all, the current plan — to be submitted by year’s end for inclusion…
By Paul McLeary