Earlier this month, the State Department learned that debris from the Chinese weather satellite destroyed in their 2007 anti-satellite test would be coming uncomfortably close to another — functioning — Chinese satellite. So, like any good neighbor, State told China about the possibility of a collision. Did they listen?

Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Howie Chandler said today that a top-level nuclear review is being launched in the wake of a disturbing equipment failure at a nuclear missile site in Wyoming. The review, which will include elements of the Air Force, Strategic Command, Defense Threat Reduction Agency and senior OSD leaders, will take at least “several months,” Chandler told reporters after a presentation at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Northrop Grumman’s shipyards may have become a bit harder to sell in the wake of a story that the $1.7 billion San Antonio class it built would not be effective in combat. The Department of Defense’s top testing official, Michael Gilmore, found that “critical systems, such as electrical distribution, ship-wide fiber optics and voice– communications networks, are not reliable” and “the ship’s armaments can’t effectively defend against the most modern anti-ship weapons.”

Since the GPS-guided Excalibur artillery round first made it to Iraq and Afghanistan, roughly 200 rounds have been fired. In the last week or so, use of the highly accurate shell has pulsed. Army artillerymen have fired 20 rounds or 10 percent of the total in Afghanistan, according to James Riley, Raytheon Missile System’s vice president for land systems. We don’t have similar numbers for the Marines, who have been using the shell as well. Excalibur has been at the center of debate in the Army as the service grapples with the tradeoffs of cost, capability and logistics.

Boeing officials revealed today that they are in negotiations with Jordan for the sale of 18 to 24 of its new AH-6 light attack choppers as another 36 of the birds are set to go to Saudi Arabia as apart of the $60 billion arms deal recently penned with the United States. This comes as the company gears up to pitch the light attack choppers to the U.S. Army as the next armed aerial scout helicopter.

Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli told a room packed with several hundred U.S Army officers, representatives of foreign militaries and contractors that he is very worried about the service’s acquisition system and believes it may take a “big bang” to fix it. “I don’t understand how we can take eight to 10 years or even longer and put something on the street and have it be relevant,” he said. “I’m a firm believer that it’s going to take the big bang theory.”

Raytheon, appearing to put to rest questions about technical and production risks face by its missile, has tested a production-representative version of its Joint Air To Ground Missile (JAGM). The company, working with Boeing, has also successfully tested the missile on an F/A-18 E/F.

Once more unto the breach dear, friends, once more… First there was Comanche. Then there was ARH. Now there is probably going to be a joint platform capable of handling everything from armed reconnaissance to cargo delivery. But first there will be the Armed Aerial Scout Analysis of Alternatives. This will look not only at what should replace aging Kiowa Warriors, but, in considering a joint approach, must also balance the trade-offs between a helo that can carry troops and materiel to the battlefield and one that can carry a host of Hellfire missiles and swoop into a high and hot environment at speed,

After years of trying, the U.S. Army is giving 180 of its aging OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopters the ability to recieve video from nearby drones as part of a broader effort to modernize the helicopters in the wake of the cancelled Armed Reconnaisance Helicopter program, service officials revealed at the Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington today. This comes as service officials admit that it will likely be ten years before any replacement for the current fleet of Kiowa Warriors will be fielded.

We haven’t seen the official results from the recent Limited User Test at White Sands Missile Range​.as they are still being scrubbed by the Army’s testers and the user community. But we’ve got an early read on the results from Col. John Wendel, program manager for BCTM. The final results will determine whether the Defense Acquisition Board approves the network and related sensors when it meets Dec. 22.

UPDATED: DOTE Live Fire Supervising Tests
Next month a Stryker combat vehicle will arrive in the US equipped for testing the Israeli’s Trophy active protection system. The Army has pursued active protection for years, most recently abandoning the Future Combat System’s active protection system developed by Raytheon. We understand at least one M-ATV will also get the radar– directed system. The Israeli system was designed and built by Rafael and is being displayed at the Association of the US Army conference here.

The sun shone bright, the American flag snapped in the wind and the Marine bands brass sections sparkled on a perfect fall day for the Marine Commandant change of command of ceremony from Gen. James Conway to Gen. James Amos. Defense Secretary Robert Gates challenged Amos, the first aviator to be named commandant, and the Corps to “make the intellectual investment” and chart their future. “They need to preserve both their maritime soul and the hard-won counterinsurgency skills they’ve developed during this past decade.”

As pressure rises for the US to abandon overseas bases crucial to the U.S. ability to reach deep into China, Russia and other strategic locations, the service is growing increasingly hungry to buy a basket of long range strike capabilities. Air Force officials say it would probably be a mix of platforms — manned and unmanned.

UPDATED: With Link to CSBA Report
It’s not quite clockwork, but it looks like it’s time again for us to have the anguished debate — is America in decline and how stark are the limits on American power. We had this familial argument when the Communist Party took over China. We had this argument when the Russians stunned the world by launching Sputnik. It recurred during Vietnam. President Jimmy Carter made his famous malaise speech just to keep the pattern unbroken. President Bill Clinton sought the peace dividend and pulled out of Somalia and refused to try and stop the genocide in Rwanda.

It’s gotten very little coverage in the media, but the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security tried last week to fix one of the biggest gaps in cyber protection for the United States by trying to ensure coverage of both military and government web sites. That is part of a wider push by the Defense Department to come up with a strategy to cope with the rising tide of cyber attacks by governments and enterprising hackers. Robert Butler, deputy assistant defense secretary for cyber policy, told reporters this morning that a new national defense strategy for cyberspace operations should be in place before the end of the year.