We face what appears to be one of the most volatile security threats of the last decade as the two Koreas threaten each other, and us, with talk of war growing graver by the day. We asked Dean Cheng, a China expert at the Heritage Foundation, to tell us just how had things really are and what the PRC’s role should be. Cheng’s conclusion: This is a defining moment for Beijing. After North Korea’s blatantly unambiguous, and indefensible act of sinking the South Korean Navy’s ship, the Cheonan, Beijing is either going to side with the angels or the demons. South Korea, the US, and even Japan should mobilize global pressure on China to join in the international response to North Korean aggression.

Final tally: 193–231. In the end the vote on the amendment stripping F136 funding from the defense policy bill was not as close as it might have been, but for the leadership of the House Armed Services Committee and General Electric and Rolls Royce it was close enough. This vote must be seen as an important defeat for the White House and for Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who repeatedly said he would urge the president to veto a bill containing funding or approval for the F136.

The amendment to strip funding for the Joint Strike Fighter’s second engine was temporarily defeated this afternoon but its fate remained in doubt as we went to press. A source watching the vote said the White House is pressing hard on the floor, trying to round up enough votes to kill the F136.

The Obama administration has released its long awaited national security strategy, touting economic power as the foundation of national power and a greater focus on economic growth, reducing deficits and rebalancing the instruments of statecraft away from the current overreliance on the use of force. The new strategy advocates coalition building and acting with and through international organizations such as the U.N. and NATO to tackle security challenges. Heavy emphasis is placed on soft power tools such as diplomacy and global partnerships.

In a rare letter to the Speaker of the House, EADS North America’s chairman has warned that a bill Boeing wants to see passed that would punish EADS for violating the World Trade Organization’s restrictions on trade subsidies would itself violate the international body’s rules. Ralph Crosby wrote Rep. Nancy Pelosi that passage would violate “the WTO treaty which forbids punitive action taken on trade matters being adjudicated by te organization.” Crosby also rejected claims by Boeing that EADS has traded with Iran. “I assure you that these allegations are untrue,”

The Congressional Budget Office is out with a new estimate of the Navy’s latest 30-year shipbuilding plan, issued in February. While that new plan reduces the total number of ships purchased between 2011 and 2040, and thus shipbuilding costs, CBO says the annual price tag is still much higher than the total shipbuilding funds the Navy has received in recent years. Top of the ouch list: CBO estimates SSBN(X) will cost $8.2 billion a copy.

Rust is not something the average person thinks of a lot when it comes to designing high-tech weapons. But several years ago I reported on a major missile test defense test that was ruined because a part rusted that helped hold the missile in place before liftoff. And in February the entire F-22 fleet was grounded “due to poorly designed drainage in the cockpit.” The affected parts were ejection seat rods. But corrosion is a huge problem for the military, costing about $20 billion each year.

An important congressional supporter of the second engine for the Joint Strike fighter is “pessimistic” about the coming House floor vote on whether the engine should be funded in the House defense authorization bill. The reason for the supporter’s pessimism is simple: the majority of House lawmakers know little about defense issues and the issues surrounding the F135, made by Pratt, and the F136, made by General Electric and Rolls Royce, are highly complex. So the vote will rest largely on coalitions, the interests of major donors and constituents and horse trading — not on the merits of the issue. The House vote on an amendment killing the F136 General Electric/Rolls Royce alternate engine program is expected Thursday.

Colleague Ward Carroll is embedded with U.S troops in Afghanistan.

BAGRAM AIRFIELD – Although the bureau numbers on the fuselages of Marine Electronic Attack Squadron 2’s EA-6B Prowlers tell of jets harkening from the Cold War, the venerable jammers have found a new and vital niche in the counterinsurgency of Afghanistan. While hesitant to discuss details around the highly classified EW missions, A Marine operations officer explained that the war in Afghanistan is a lot more dynamic than the war in Iraq was for the jammers. He also said those asking for his planes are a lot smarter about the Prowler’s capabilities.

The Navy held a conference call with reporters today to shoot down any rumors that it’s going soft on the carrier version of the Joint Strike Fighter in favor of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. The fact that the Navy continues to buy large numbers of Super Hornets does not mean it doesn’t plan to buy even more F-35s, a true “game changing” 5th generation stealth aircraft. The much discussed Navy strike fighter shortfall is based on projections that see carrier strike sorties in Central Command remaining at current levels out to 2017, Manazir said.

Pratt & Whitney hopes it can finally crush the pesky second engine program for the Joint Strike Fighter during a floor vote later this week. General Electric and Rolls Royce know they face significant opposition and have mobilized all their resources — press conferences, PAC money, jaw-jaw with lawmakers and the best ads defense money can buy — to keep their program alive and strong. How hard is GE coming out swinging? Here’s the line from an ad due to run in enemy country [Hartford, Conn.] this week: “Let’s Get Real,” the all uppercase copy reads. “Perhaps if you think you are close to winning a $100 billion monopoly for the next 30 years, delusions of grandeur take over.” On top of that, GE and partner Rolls Royce are lining up some congressional reinforcements.

It’s not often those people who still watch network news are treated to a story about the weapons America buys, so when ABC’s flagship news program broadcast a story about the second engine program for the Joint Strike fighter most of us who watch these things every day took note. You’ll get a general diea of the story’s bent from its title: “Pentagon Chokes on Pork.” At least one person on Capitol Hill in particular took note, and was not happy. Following is a detailed critique of the story by a Capitol Hill aide.

Our colleague Christian Lowe is embedded with U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHARANA: In one of the most conspicuous shifts in policy since the war in Afghanistan began, local Army commanders have ordered that Soldiers must be in heavily-armored IED-resistant vehicles when leaving the confines of any base in eastern Afghanistan. Up-armored Humvees, the go-to patrol truck for troops here since 2001, have been relegated to driving within forward operating bases or were donated to the Afghan army and police.

One of the defense world’s favorite parlor games is guessing when a Defense Secretary will depart and why. The departure of Robert Gates will be particularly signficant as it will clear the way for the Obama administration’s first real pick to lead the Pentagon. The latest intel we’ve got on Robert Gates’ departure, from a well-placed source, puts it in “early next year.”

The House Armed Services Committee raised its bet yesterday on the F136, second engine for the Joint Strike Fighter. Gates called the HASC today, but he did not raise. He will recommend a veto, and last year that meant President Obama did not take the bold step of vetoing the defense policy bill. Gates also bowed today to the congressional perennial hunger to raise troop pay. If Congress boosts pay half a percent over the administration’s budget request then he will not recommend a veto. But Gates kept up the rhetoric.

UPDATED: Gates Says His “Every Day” Devoted to Fixing Pentagon; Mullen Says Services Support Reforms

Defense Secretary Robert Gates put it clearly earlier this month at the Eisenhower Luncheon, “it’s a simple matter of math.” While it would be the prudent way to go to keep the force structure at current levels, being that we are a nation in a pair of wars, he said, there is the problem of budgetary realities. “It is highly unlikely that we will achieve the real growth rates necessary to sustain the current force structure.”

UPDATED: With LINK to HASC Summary of Authorization Bill

They were up. They were down. Supporters of the F-18 thought yesterday that they had been offered help getting eight more F-18s added to the HASC version of the defense authorization bill. But word late in the afternoon was that the HASC chairman, Rep. Ike Skelton, would vote against it, probably dooming the effort. So they were further down. But late last night Rep. Todd Akin, ranking member of the seapower and expeditionary warfare subcommittee, and other F-18 supporters were pleasantly surprised; the committee approved the planes.

Ash Carter, head of Pentagon acquisition, has told the Air Force to come up with alternatives to the deeply troubled NPOESS weather satellite program run by Northrop Grumman. He told me he today that issued a directive to the service about 10 days ago giving them 30 days to come up with alternatives and to provide some costs. I hear it was a formal Acq1uisition Decision Memorandum, although no “decision” is at hand yet. But Carter and the Air Force will be hard-pressed to avoid what is beginning to look like the final legislative steamroller for a program that encountered serious and persistent technical problems.

Rep. Solomon Ortiz moved to restore $111.6 million to the Army’s son of FCS, the so-called Brigade Combat Team Modernization. The full committee restored the money during markup. The BCT modernization included unattended munitions, the Non-Line-Of-Sight Launch System (NLOS-LS), sensors, a small hovering drone, a small robot, new radios and software. The Army officially killed NLOS and then the HASC air and land subcommittee killed most of the rest during its markup last week.

UPDATED: Amendment Includes EIGHT F-18 E/Fs, Chairman Likely to Vote NO
The details are being hammered out as we type, but it looks almost certain that the House Armed Services Committee will insert “a handful” of F-18 E/Fs into its version of the defense authorization bill tomorrow. Given the markup language which we reported on last week — requiring that the Pentagon use the savings from multiyear authority and plough it back into the program — it’s likely that Rep. Todd Akins and his fellow F-18 supporters are arguing that in these tough budget times it makes all the sense in the world to take the 11 percent savings from the multiyear and build more fighters.