Archive for July, 2011

U.K. endorses India Eurofighter deal

By Philip Ewing on Tuesday, July 12th, 2011

U.K. endorses India Eurofighter deal

The U.K. is joining the chorus of European governments making the case that India’s military should be the next to join Club Eurofighter

The parties’ ‘strategically bankrupt’ views on defense

By Philip Ewing on Tuesday, July 12th, 2011

NATO splinters over the Libya endgame

By Philip Ewing on Monday, July 11th, 2011

NATO splinters over the Libya endgame

The once-unified NATO allies are divided on how to end the Libyan intervention. France is even hinting that Qaddafi could stay around if his government agrees to talks.

No good options for dealing with smuggled weapons

By Philip Ewing on Monday, July 11th, 2011

No good options for dealing with smuggled weapons

Commanders are angry about weapons being smuggled to insurgents and used to attack Americans, but not much can be done about it.

Mullen: China has ‘arrived’ as world power

By Philip Ewing on Monday, July 11th, 2011

Mullen: China has ‘arrived’ as world power

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs says China and the U.S. can move past the issues in their particular relationship and begin dealing with broader, common goals.

Riverine Squadron 3

By Philip Ewing on Monday, July 11th, 2011

AF: No word when F-22s could fly again

By Philip Ewing on Monday, July 11th, 2011

AF: No word when F-22s could fly again

Although pilots and crews can still train with simulators and grounded aircraft, pilots will need to re-train on some tasks whenever the fighters can fly again.

Weekend wrap: Expeditionary links

By Philip Ewing on Friday, July 8th, 2011

Weekend wrap: Expeditionary links

The week that was. The links that were.

New lasers could protect helos from RPGs

By Philip Ewing on Friday, July 8th, 2011

New lasers could protect helos from RPGs

The Army wants countermeasure systems that can act in the blink of an eye to defend its helicopters from missiles and small-arms fire.

Army orders new batch of JTRS radios

By Philip Ewing on Friday, July 8th, 2011

Army orders new batch of JTRS radios

The Army has ordered the first batch of what the defense industry hopes will be thousands upon thousands of new soldier radios.

LCS is on ‘path to success,’ SecNav says

By Philip Ewing on Friday, July 8th, 2011

LCS is on ‘path to success,’ SecNav says

The secretary of the Navy says he knows the littoral combat ships have had some early challenges, but the program is on the right course and it’ll get through them.

Goodbye, space shuttle.

By Philip Ewing on Friday, July 8th, 2011

Goodbye, space shuttle.

The final mission of the space shuttle Atlantis highlights the uncertain future of manned spaceflight for America.

The Army’s antennae in the sky

By Philip Ewing on Thursday, July 7th, 2011

The Army’s antennae in the sky

Soldiers are using relays aboard UAVs and aerostats to increase the ranges at which they can communicate on the battlefield.

Gettin’ the bands back together

By Philip Ewing on Thursday, July 7th, 2011

Gettin’ the bands back together

After a legislative battle over whether to try to save money by cutting back on the services’ bands, the House voted on Wednesday to restore full funding for military music.

SASC: JSTARS upgrades better bet than UAVs for now

By Philip Ewing on Thursday, July 7th, 2011

SASC: JSTARS upgrades better bet than UAVs for now

The Senate Armed Services Committee wants the Air Force to re-engine its fleet of E-8s because it makes sense whatever the service decides about a potential replacement.

F-16 JDAM strike

By Philip Ewing on Thursday, July 7th, 2011

Obama: Strategy must drive DoD budget cuts

By Philip Ewing on Thursday, July 7th, 2011

Obama: Strategy must drive DoD budget cuts

Although Americans told the president via Twitter they’re fine with a smaller DoD budget, Obama said it’ll take planning to responsibly shrink defense spending.

John Bennett: Defense could face $700B cut in debt deal

By Philip Ewing on Thursday, July 7th, 2011

Report: Pirate ransoms finance militant groups

By Philip Ewing on Thursday, July 7th, 2011

Report: Pirate ransoms finance militant groups

A U.N. official says international authorities have concluded that payments to free pirate hostages have wound up in the hands of Somalia’s al Qaeda affiliate.

Analysts: DoD budget may end up too important to cut

By Philip Ewing on Wednesday, July 6th, 2011

Analysts: DoD budget may end up too important to cut

For all the months of talk about “budget pressure” on DoD, financial analysts believe the economic benefits provided by the defense industry will trump major cuts in defense spending.