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SIKORSKI STEPS UP NEW HELICOPTERS, ALGERIA SOURCES UAV FROM BEIJING & INDIA GOES TO MOSCOW AND ISRAEL

10/31/2018

US Army pilots take Sikorsky optionally manned helicopter for spin
(Defense News) For the first time, Lockheed Martin company Sikorsky turned over its Sikorsky Autonomy Research Aircraft (SARA) to U.S. Army pilots for a spin, according to an Oct. 29 company statement.

Algeria unveils Chinese UAVs
(IHS Jane’s 360) The Algerian Ministry of National Defence (MDN) revealed that it has acquired two types of Chinese-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in its coverage of a visit by Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Ahmed Gaïd Salah to Ain Ouessara Air Base in the 1st Military Region on 30 October.

Israeli company to outfit Indian Navy, Army after $1.3 billion in defense deals
(Defense News) Israel Aerospace Industries announced two deals worth a total of $1.3 billion with India between Oct. 24 and 29. One deal will see IAI outfit the Indian Army with the Sky Capture air defense system, a contract worth $550 million. In addition, IAI will provide $777 million worth of Barak 8 missile defense systems, known as LRSAM in India, for seven ships.

India signs $950 million contract with Russia to buy two stealth frigates
(Defense News) India has signed a $950 million contract with Russia for two upgraded Krivak III-class stealth frigates.

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TICKING TIME BOMB CALLED 'THE BUDGET'

10/27/2018

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Would a $700 Billion Budget Really Sink the Pentagon?
// William D. Hartung and Ben Freeman
Resistance is already forming to a proposed decrease in 2020 spending. It's important to understand just what that decrease means.

Don’t expect any Trump boost to defense spending
Mackenzie Eaglen | Breaking Defense
Recent cuts to topline defense spending show that President Trump would rather score political points about the deficit and debt over the much-needed improvements to and maintenance of America's military.

Anthony H. Cordesman writes: For several decades, American strategic planning has been little more than a facade for annual line item budget debates. Arguably, U.S. strategic planning peaked when Harold Brown was Secretary of Defense in 1981. From that point onwards, efforts to create and manage U.S. national security using some effective linkage between strategy and real-world planning, programming, and budgeting activity steadily declined. – Center for Strategic and International Studies

Beyond INF: A Democratic House & A New Era Of War (Analysis)

Democratic House Hurts Space Corps, Nuke Modernization, & Pentagon Topline

Democrats’ big night brings big questions for defense policy
(Defense News) Democrats won the U.S. House in convincing fashion in Tuesday’s midterm elections, promising to shake up defense policy in the coming year and raising the possibility of tumultuous impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.

Trump Reverses The Defense Buildup: 2020 Cuts Analysis

A troubling outlook for future defense spending
Luke Strange | RealClearDefense

The lame-duck Congress has a national security to-do list
(Defense News) Here are three items on the national security agenda for Congress.

The Trump administration had already been planning for relatively flat national-security spending, and more recently, a slightly decline beginning in 2020.

The ticking nuclear budget time bomb
Mackenzie Eaglen | War on the Rocks
The current path is an irrational and costly recipe for sucking funding from other defense programs or buying fewer new nuclear delivery systems and reducing the size of the arsenal. The longer military and political leaders deny this reality, the worse off America’s nuclear deterrent and armed forces will be.

It’s official: DoD told to take cut with FY20 budget
(Defense News) The Pentagon has officially been told the national security top line for fiscal 2020 will be $700 billion, representing the first cut to defense spending under the Trump administration.

Trump’s defense buildup is as real as the wall
Gary J. Schmitt | The Weekly Standard
At $700 billion, the Pentagon will be able to address some obvious readiness problems. But how long will it be able to sustain that fix? The answer is not long at all. Proposing and then authorizing budgets to fund the military is a product of the two political branches. Trump can only succeed in hollowing out the military’s capabilities if Congress agrees.

The Fiscal Year 2020 budget may slow down modernization efforts and research into next-generation weapons, like hypersonic missiles, but will still invest in growing the military force and boosting readiness for aircraft such as the F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, the deputy secretary of defense told reporters today. – USNI News

Inhofe Wants 355 Ship Navy, But Headwinds Remain

Don’t expect any Trump boost to defense spending
Reuters
Mackenzie Eaglen writes that recent cuts to topline defense spending show that President Trump would rather score political points about the deficit and debt than improve and maintain America’s military.

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OPTIMIZING SPECIAL OPS, HOW COUNTERTERROR OPS HELPS DEFEND AGAINST FOREIGN INFLUENCE & NET ASSESSMENT ON CHINA

10/19/2018

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Helicopters Best Enable Forced Entry From the Sea
By Daniel Phillips, Proceedings Magazine: “The Marine expeditionary unit (MEU) cannot conduct forced-entry operations from afloat in today's threat environment.

Shifting Fires: Optimizing Special Operations for Today and Tomorrow's Fight by Chad Pillai

How to Defend Against Foreign Influence Campaigns: Lessons From Counter-Terrorism by Kara Frederick

New NET ASSESSMENT: The China Hand by Melanie Marlowe, Bryan McGrath, and Christopher Preble

How the West’s Research Aids China’s Military
By Alex Joske, ASPI Strategist: “In 2016, Chinese student Huang Xianjun completed his Ph.D. at the University of Manchester, working with the discoverers of graphene, a material with incredible strength, electrical conductivity and flexibility. Then he returned to China to work on key projects for the People’s Liberation Army."

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THE CORPS KEEPS COIN & BUILDING IN AN AGE OF DEFICITS

10/12/2018

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Can Trump Rebuild The Military As Deficits Balloon?

Senate Democrats Absurdly Blame Budget Deficit on Republicans
Brian Riedl, E21
This week, the Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee released a ludicrous taxpayer-funded “study” that attempts to prove that the entire budget deficit is the fault of Republicans. The report uses a hyper partisan methodology that essentially rigs the results.The study’s argument is as follows: Since 2000, defense spending has risen $205 billion above inflation, and tax cuts have shaved $546 billion from annual tax revenues. Add in $183 billion in resulting interest costs, and you get a $935 billion annual tab that exceeds the current $779 billion budget deficit. Therefore, in the study’s words, “Republican policies caused the 2018 budget deficit.” Read more here....

Counterinsurgency is here to stay: Marines plan to double foreign military training adviser group (Marine Corps Times) While the Marines and the U.S. military are amid an overhaul to prep the force for a fight with near-peer adversaries, the Corps hasn’t lost focused on its counterinsurgency mission.

It soon may be a 15 Marine rifle squad ― most likely for MEU deployments
(Marine Corps Times) The top Marine is considering bolstering the size of the rifle squad to 15 Marines for forward deployed Amphibious Ready Group Marine Expeditionary Units, or MEUs.

Trump's New Counterterrorism Strategy
By Clifford D. May, The Washington Times: ““We remain a nation at war.” President Trump’s new National Strategy for Counterterrorism (NSC) begins with that simple statement of fact. The 21st century is an age of conflict. That’s unlikely to change any time soon.”

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ARMY EXAMINES "HAVING THE RIGHT PEOPLE" IS MORE THAN MONEY AND EQUIPMENT & DEFENSE ACQUISITION TALKS ABOUT SCOPE

10/9/2018

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CSIS
CSIS II

You can have all the money and the stuff, AUSA president says, but the Army won’t work without the right people
(Army Times) The Army has turned a corner after half a decade of throttled budgets ― that’s the message from senior leaders. Readiness is up, modernization is underway and the service is pushing to get the active component up to about 500,000 soldiers by 2022.

Army Rapid Capabilities Office realigned to focus on top modernization priorities
(Defense News) The Army’s Rapid Capabilities Office, established just over two years ago, isn’t going to be just about rushing to develop electronic warfare, position, navigation and timing, and cyber capabilities.

The US Army’s in good shape, but Tough Choices Loom
(DefenseOne) Some 500 programs are being scrutinized for cuts to support top acquisition priorities.

Defensive Protection Systems Leading Army Modernization

Interview: Dr. Bruce Jette, Army acquisition chief
(Defense News) As the Army undergoes a major transformation, to include the activation of the brand new Army Futures Command, the service is attempting to bring requirements developers, the science and technology community, sustainers and logisticians closer together to more effectively modernize the force.

The Modernization the Army Needs Can Be Found at the AUSA Annual Conference
By Dan Gouré, RealClearDefense: “Is it possible that the Army could find much of what it needs to initially address its modernization priorities on the exhibit floor at the AUSA convention?”

The U.S. Army Will (and Must) Get Heavier
By Dan Gouré, RealClearDefense: “The Army’s modernization strategy has one significant characteristic that will impact not only how that service will fight but also the conduct of joint and combined operations.”

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TRUMP WANTS CHINA OUT OF MANUFACTURING US MILITARY COMPONENTS & DOD REPORT ON US INDUSTRIAL BASE WEAKNESS

10/5/2018

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Pence, DoD Roll Out Harder Line on China, Russia

US INDUSTRIAL BASE REPORT

Trump’s Industrial Base Report Blames China, Congress

Trump Wants Chinese Parts Out of American Weapons
// Marcus Weisgerber
The White House will call for targeted investments in domestic manufacturing in an industrial-base report to be unveiled Friday.

White House Report Warns 'All Facets' Of U.S. Defense Industrial Base Are At Risk
By Loren Thompson, Forbes: “The report begins by identifying five "macro forces" causing weakness in industries important to national security: unpredictable federal funding, poor government business practices, predatory behavior of other nations, erosion in traditional manufacturing industries and inadequate investment in critical skills..”

America’s scrawny $200 billion defense industrial base

Managing America's Defense Industries in a World of Great Power Competition
By Jerry Hendrix, The National Interest: “In issuing this report, which some might criticize as an attempt to manage a portion of the nation’s economy, President Trump has taken a page from two of his most illustrious predecessors."

The decline of the defense industrial base – and what to do about it
(Defense News) A new report released by the White House documents the gravity of the situation facing the defense industrial base, while also offering solutions to counteract these challenges. By evaluating seven tiers deep into the supply chain, the report has documented more than 280 major supply chain vulnerabilities and an alarming dependency on foreign nations, especially China.

A stronger defense-industrial base starts with Congress
(Defense News) Today’s defense-industrial base bears little resemblance to the 1960s defense infrastructure President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned against.

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INDIA & RUSSIA FIELD MOST ADVANCED SUBMARINE EVER; U.S. RESPONSE IS LETHAL. . .

10/1/2018

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RUSSIA:
Russia's Most Advanced Nuclear Submarine Ever Just Went to Sea
By Dave Majumdar, The National Interest: “Russia's second Severodvinsk-class submarine K-561 Kazan , which is a modified Project 08851 Yasen-M design, went to sea for the first time for builder's trials on September 24."

Navy’s New SSN(X) Attack Sub To Be Faster, More Lethal
By Ben Werner, USNI News: “The Navy's next class fast attack submarine will be designed for a return to blue-water great power competition, where the ability to support forces ashore is less important than operating in the open ocean hunting rival submarines.”

The Indian Navy’s new ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) INS Arihant was the boomer that completed the month-long deterrent patrol. Whilst this is not insignificant – it is the first country outside of the five members of the U.N. Security Council to develop this capability – it also shows how far away India is to achieve its goal of joining the other great powers in establishing a credible sea-based deterrent. – USNI News

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pentagon acquisition reform

SIKORSKI STEPS UP NEW HELICOPTERS, ALGERIA SOURCES UAV FROM BEIJING & INDIA GOES TO MOSCOW AND ISRAEL

TICKING TIME BOMB CALLED 'THE BUDGET'

OPTIMIZING SPECIAL OPS, HOW COUNTERTERROR OPS HELPS DEFEND AGAINST FOREIGN INFLUENCE & NET ASSESSMENT ON CHINA

THE CORPS KEEPS COIN & BUILDING IN AN AGE OF DEFICITS

ARMY EXAMINES "HAVING THE RIGHT PEOPLE" IS MORE THAN MONEY AND EQUIPMENT & DEFENSE ACQUISITION TALKS ABOUT SCOPE

TRUMP WANTS CHINA OUT OF MANUFACTURING US MILITARY COMPONENTS & DOD REPORT ON US INDUSTRIAL BASE WEAKNESS

INDIA & RUSSIA FIELD MOST ADVANCED SUBMARINE EVER; U.S. RESPONSE IS LETHAL. . .

DOD ACQUISITION REFORM

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