When Defense Secretary Robert Gates put the presidential helicopter program on ice in 2009, he left nine completely built birds sitting in a hangar. Given the fabulous capabilities required of the VH-71 helicopters — executive protection plus, hardened and encrypted communications gear, all sorts of neat active protective systems — it seemed a bit sad […]

Ever since the Afghan surge began there’s been considerable behind the scenes talk of a hammer and anvil strategy toward Al Qaeda, its friends in the Haqqani network and the Pakistani Taliban. Much of that anvil has appeared to take the form of drone strikes and special forces actions inside far northern Pakistan or along […]

Sometimes policymakers face no better test of their ideas than simply exposing them to the public, especially when that public is well informed. I combed through the comments posted to our Gates doctrine story and found two main threads. First come those who believe Gates simply doesn’t understand the strategic challenges faced by the US […]

The next major security gaps in the military’s computer networks are likely to be found in the smartphones on which soldiers, sailors and airmen increasingly rely in theater. The Army may equip every soldier with a smartphone and it has experimented for more than a year with phones and how they might be used at […]

Orlando — The Air Force would like to start work on a sixth generation fighter. It would. And it will work on advanced technologies at the service labs and encourage industry to keep ploughing ahead on promising technologies. But Air Force Secretary Mike Donley made very clear at the Air Force Association conference that the service is focused on building the coming fifth generation aircraft (also known as the Joint Strike Fighter) and has no plans to begin investing the nation’s treasure on a new aircraft.

UPDATED: With LightSquared Company Comments

ORLANDO– Deputy Defense Secretary Bll Lynn has raised concerns with the Federal Communications Commission about a new technology used by a company called Light Squared that jams both military and civilian GPS signals. The Federal Aviation Administration shares the Pentagon’s worries. Air Force Gen. William Shelton, head of Air Force Space Command, disclosed the Pentagon and FAA’s concerns at the Air Force Association winter conference today.

While the Defense Department is scrambling to field 65 UAV combat air patrols per day in the Middle East by 2013 and isn’t “sure that will meet the demand” for spy planes overhead, the DoD will eventually have to figure out how to better manage its ballooning drone fleet and rapidly growing ISR corps, said Michael Vickers, assistant secretary of defense for special ops and acting undersecretary of defense for intelligence today.

The Pentagon said today it will take until the mid 202os to field a new fleet of 80 to 100 bombers built using existing technology. If the Air Force is not going to use dramatically improved technologies, which usually take a decade or so to perfect, why will it take so long? Well, it all comes down to money and making really fancy existing technology all work together, according to several experts.

The Pentagon keeps learning from the field that soldiers, sailors and airmen thirst for one thing above all else — better information. It takes the form of what Pentagon Comptroller Robert Hale calls “an almost insatiable demand” for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR). To meet that demand the military is asking Congress to fund $5 billion in new unmanned and manned ISR systems. The list is: three more Global Hawks for $1.7 billion; 48 more reaper UAS for $1.4 billion; 36 Grey Eagles for $1 billion; another 12 Liberty MC-12 ISR aircraft for $300 million; accelerate the Fire Scout maritime UAS system with $300 million. On top of that they plan to pour $2.3 billion into improved cyber capabilities.

Monday is budget day. At 2 p.m. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, will begin unveiling details of what will doubtless be one of the most contentious defense budgets since the Clinton administration. Each service and the Missile Defense Agency unveils its budget and answers reporters questions after that. […]

If you believe that the intelligence community blew it on Egypt and missed the early signs of the popular uprising, your opinion is not shared by the ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, or several senior intelligence officials.

Anthony Cordesman looms as one of the wisest and best informed experts on those crucial places that stretch from Morocco to Afghanistan, especially in terms of their strategic and military issues. In the following commentary, he offers a trenchant analysis of the Egyptian military and security forces, what they may have to gain or lose and who among them to watch.

The Egyptian military, marked so far by its loyalty to civilian authority and its admirable discipline in obeying orders, appears to have intervened and taken control of the country. CIA Director Leon Panetta told the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak may leave office within hours. Egyptian State Television said Mubarak will address the nation soon.

A National Intelligence Estimate is the highest expression of long-term institutional worry that the US government possesses and the Director of National Intelligence has ordered one on America’s manufacturing capabilities.

Over the last half year, China’s military has carefully unveiled its J-20 stealth airplane, threatened US ships and hosed them down, discussed plans for an aircraft carrier and boasted of their being equals with the US on the global stage. In light of all this, we asked the Heritage Foundation’s Dean Cheng to give us some idea of what actually happened during the recent visit of President Hu Jintao and what it means for them and for us. His title says it all: Hu Came and All I Got Was a Joint Statement.

Reports are swirling around that the People’s Liberation Army Navy has successfully tested Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles. If so, this achievement would represent an important advance in China’s strategic capabilities. Norman Polmar, the respected naval and intelligence author. mentioned this at a presentation Wednesday night.

A solid group of 37 Republican senators, led by Sen. Jon Kyl, tell Secretary of State Hillary Clinton they must be told whether the Obama administration plans to negotiate and sign on to a Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities. The Feb. 2 letter says the senators are “deeply concerned” the administration may pursue an agreement they fear poses “a multitude of potential highly damaging implications for sensitive military and intelligence programs… as well as a tremendous amount of commercial activity.”

Alas, poor Vodaphone. In one of the more interesting cyber war wrinkles, it looks as if hanging-on-by-his-fingernails Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s government ordered the London-based company to send out text messages telling people about protests in support of his rule. That and Egypt’s decision to shut down Internet access are part of a growing trend of targeted Internet shutdowns by worried governments.

UPDATED: “A Big Capitulation;” Watch Election Contributions

When President Obama threatened in his State of the Union speech to veto any bill containing earmarks, several people I spoke with later snickered. How is this relatively inexperienced former senator going to put the kibosh on one of the Hill’s most treasured rights. Then our world tipped slightly yesterday with word that Sen. Daniel Inouye, one of the most respected and powerful members of Congress and chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced what he called an “earmark moratorium.”

Former Air Force Secretary Mike Wynne wants the Air Force to get rid of large surveillance and reconnasisance aircraft such as AWACS and JSTARS, which are vulnerable to attack because of their huge radar cross-sections, and take the money saved and shove it into the Joint Strike Fighter program.