News
Search News
In the News
Pentagon’s Phantom Savings
Pentagon leaders love to tout the $330 billion they saved by cutting or killing weapons programs over the past two years, but that's not the whole story. “Even if somehow it does add up to $330 billion in savings that were cut from these programs … it’s not net savings because there’s going to be replacements for a lot these things anyway,” said Todd Harrison, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington think tank. “These were hypothetical savings anyway, because there weren’t hard programs.”
In the News
Pakistan’s Nuclear Surge
Even in the best of times, Pakistan’s nuclear-weapons program warrants alarm. But these are perilous days. At a moment of unprecedented misgiving between Washington and Islamabad, new evidence suggests that Pakistan’s nuclear program is barreling ahead at a furious clip/.../ Eric Edelman, undersecretary of defense in the George W. Bush administration, puts it bluntly: “You’re talking about Pakistan even potentially passing France at some point. That’s extraordinary.”
In the News
US Expert Warns of PRC Economic Trap
A US military expert said China may be trying to take over Taiwan by using a strategy of “economic entanglement.”
In the News
Analysts Chew Over USAF’S OBOGS Groundings
An abundance of caution likely motivated the U.S. Air Force to launch investigations into the oxygen-generation systems found on board a number of fighter and trainer aircraft, analysts said. “When you get to life-support systems, that is something the Air Force and any service tends to take a very hard line with,” said Mark Gunzinger, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington and a former Air Force pilot.“They are very, very cautious and risk-averse because we’re not just dealing with the loss of a major weapon system, but the loss of a human life,” he said/…/“They want to be doubly sure that the problems that they are experiencing with the F-22 OBOGS is not something that could be common to other systems and other aircraft,” Gunzinger said. “It’s something that’s very, very prudent, and a very smart thing to do.”If the Air Force had specific information on a particular problem, the aircraft in question would be grounded, Gunzinger said.
In the News
U.S. Strike in Legal Gray Area
Federal law includes two bodies of code applicable to warfare. Title 10 contains laws exclusive to the U.S. armed forces - notably the Uniform Code of Military Justice Title. Title 50 relates to definitions of war and espionage, and the government's responsibilities in the event of armed conflict. "Traditionally, operations in countries with which the U.S. is not at war are conducted under Title 50, not Title 10," said Jim Thomas, an expert in political-military relations who is vice president for studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. "What you've seen since 9/11," Thomas said, "is a blurring of Title 50 and Title 10."
In the News
What a Navy SEAL Makes
A look at the salaries Navy Seals get from the government, with Todd Harrison, CSBA.