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U.S. Drones vs China
After a decade of steady expansion, the Chinese military has made significant strides toward limiting the United States’ ability to deploy its own armed forces in the western Pacific. A combination of new submarines, long-range anti-ship missiles and heavily-armed jet fighters underpins what the Pentagon calls Beijing's ‘anti-access, area-denial’ strategy, aimed at keeping the warships of the US Seventh Fleet, based in Japan, out of the South China Sea. ‘Reversing the erosion of the Navy’s strike advantage will require investments in a new generation of capabilities to increase the range, persistence and survivability of carrier aircraft,’ Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington, D.C. think tank, posited in a September report. ‘Without such investments, US aircraft carriers will be locked into a concept of operations that is dependent on relatively benign, permissive operating conditions.’
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2nd Fleet Shutdown Raises Red Flags
A 2010 Pentagon-driven savings initiative prompted the Navy to recommend shutting down 2nd Fleet, which oversees the training and certification of East Coast units, and merging it with ever-growing Fleet Forces Command.
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Pentagon Weapons Buyer Quietly Visits California to Discuss Bomber Planes
Deep in the Mojave Desert, surrounded by tiers of barbed-wire fence, the nation's largest defense contractors work in secrecy designing and building the latest military aircraft at Air Force Plant 42.
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Budget Cuts Force Pentagon to Redefine Priorities
America has embarked on cost-cutting strategic reviews before. In the wake of the Korean War, the Eisenhower administration took what it called “the new look” at defense.
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How Osama bin Laden’s Death Reverberates Through the Defense Sector
The question on the minds of those gathered in Tampa was whether the success of the bin Laden raid means more money for special ops. Todd Harrison, of the Washington, DC-based Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, says that while funding for Special Operations Command, which includes Navy SEALs, has increased in recent years, much of the money has gone to "expendables," meaning things such as bullet and bombs. "I think the success of the Bin Laden raid will solidify a lot of support for the increase in funding for special operations equipment and training," he says.
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Analyst: Military bands to cost Pentagon $50B over next 50 years
While trimming the military’s music tab might be an attractive target for Pentagon bean counters, Harrison said there is no shortage of targets within a nearly $700 billion yearly budget, a figure that includes war spending.