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Is Caspian Sea Fleet a Game-Changer?
Few naval strategists would count Russia’s Caspian Sea flotilla among significant units in an order of battle. The inland sea features naval forces from the four bordering countries — Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan in addition to Russia — but most vessels are small missile-armed or patrol craft, nearly all well under 1,000 tons. The forces have been viewed purely as local craft.
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Why China’s Nuclear Subs Are Subpar
Over the past two decades, the People’s Republic of China has made great advances in its military capabilities. However, it still lags woefully behind in developing nuclear-powered submarines. The problem for the Chinese is that they lack the necessary quieting and propulsion technologies to build anything remotely comparable to an American or Russian nuclear submarine.
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The War over UCLASS (And Future of Naval Power Projection) Continues
The U.S. Congress’ National Defense Authorization Act conference report for Fiscal Year 2016 has come out strongly in favor of developing a long-range penetrating unmanned carrier-based aircraft. However, even if the bill is pushed through the Hill, Congressional sources expect that President Barack Obama will almost certainly veto it.
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Congress proposes fixes to troubled Pentagon acquisition system
The consequences of the cost overruns that plague so many Pentagon procurement programs have traditionally been limited to tongue lashings from Congress, bad press and not a whole lot else.
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Defense industry bracing for major hit over 2016 budget
Big weapons programs will take significant hits if Congress’s short-term spending plan turns into a year-long contingency budget.
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Understanding the Past, Present, and Future of U.S. Precision Strike
On average, it took 1,000 sorties of B-17 bombers dropping nearly two-and-a-half million pounds of “dumb” bombs to successfully knock out a significant Nazi target in 1944. By contrast, during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a B-2 bomber could reliably achieve the same result with a single 2,000 pound “smart” bomb—and then go on to strike up to fifteen more targets in a single mission.