Two influential analysts told lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week that America’s strategic position in the world is eroding. America is losing its technological edge and is in deep financial trouble, while purchasing power is shifting from the West to Asia. Those trends cannot be undone, they warned, so the U.S. must adapt and seek greater cooperation with allies and establish “rules of the road” with potential rivals.

The non-partisan CBO said defense budgets must grow by at least six percent beginning next year to pay for weapons programs currently on the books. The base defense budget would have to increase to an average of $567 billion annually for two decades. While that might not appear all that high, it must be viewed in the context of sluggish U.S. economic growth, record deficits, and the need to pay interest on that growing pile of debt.

Now that the V-22s have landed in Afghanistan, it’s time to take a look at how they will be used. Robbin Laird, a defense consultant who works for the Marines — among other clients — got a chance to interview the flight crews of VMM-261, headed by Lt. Col. A. J. Bianca, about the concepts of operations they expected to follow. We’ve got links to the interviews, an interview with Laird and links to video of the V-22 teams undergoing deployment to Afghanistan and some of their training.

In a rare public appearance, Gen. Xu Caihou, vice chairman of China’s Communist Party’s Central Military Commission, came to Washington and told an audience that his country remains a “developing country and would not, could not threaten developed countries.” In fact, the PRC seeks “accommodation, not confrontation.”

With the Senate likely to vote next week on the defense authorization bill, concern is growing that one or more senators may filibuster the bill to make clear their displeasure or unease with hate crimes legislation that was attached to the bill.

Global warming will change the world’s coastlines as sea levels rise and open previously icebound sea lanes in the arctic, said Navy chief Adm. Gary Roughead, requiring the Navy build ships better able to operate in the frigid north. Changing global weather patterns will cause bigger storms that impact those living near the world’s coastlines, leading to more humanitarian and rescue operations.

The Navy intends to deploy an energy efficient “Great Green Fleet” carrier strike group consisting of ships powered either by nuclear energy or biofuels with an attached air wing of fighter jets fueled entirely by biofuels. The “green” strike group was part of an ambitious energy efficient agenda that will include a radical restructuring of the way the Navy and Marine Corps awards industry contracts, laid out today by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, at the Naval Energy Forum in McLean, Va.

The CEO of Europe’s premier missile company, MBDA, thinks the US should use the MEADS and Aster anti-missile systems and buy European radar and subsystems as part of its missile defense plan for the continent.

The Navy scrapped one of three Littoral Combat ships for 2010 and completely restructured the program, trying to increase competition between shipyards and thus lower costs. The new plan, in very simple terms, is this: Pick a contractor and buy 10 ships over the next five years from one of the two builders, and then, in 2012, pick another shipyard to build another five ships of the same design.

China has resumed “official military to relations” with the United States and also rejoined maritime discussions, Adm. Timothy Keating, head of Pacific Command told defense reporters Tuesday, after a face-to-face visit from Pentagon policy chief Michelle Flournoy in June.

After calls for a V-22 production halt from a House committee because of problems with parts and logistics, and with the Marines planning to deploy about a dozen planes to Afghanistan, Boeing and the Marines came under intense pressure to prove they could fly the aircraft and maintain it at reasonable cost. The top Bell Boeing manager says the aircraft are ready for Afghanistan and other deployments, and the logistics issues are under control.

In the soon-to-be immortal words of Sen. Daniel Inouye: “Nothing ever dies” on Capitol Hill. That was Inouye’s response Thursday afternoon when a reporter asked the Senate Appropriations Committee chairman if the split buy for a tanker was dead. Pressed, the senator who often speaks like a seer, finally admitted that the split buy did appear to be really dead for this session of Congress since it was not even a subject for conference discussions.

LCS. Huge cost overruns (OK– the Navy changed the requirements, but still). CVN 78 has EMALS issues and is struggling to contain cost growth that the Congressional Budget Office estimates may lead to a ship costing $900 million more than the Navy expects. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus knows he faces serious problems meeting the Navy’s goal of a 313 ship fleet and has promised an “intense” focus on acquisition reform. But wait; there’s more! Norm Polmar offers the view that one Navy ship — DDG 1000 — is now on track and on budget.

It’s official. Jamie McIntyre, who used to cover the military for CNN, has joined the Military.com team with his own site, Line of Departure. I knew Jamie from my days covering NATO at Defense News and we shared a few flights with then-Defense Secretary William Cohen. He’s a rock solid reporter who will bring a deep source book and a unique perspective on how the military is faring and how relations between the media and the military shape both enterprises. Move out!

Francis Fukuyama argued in his book The End of History and the Last Man that the end of the Cold War seemed to usher in the end of new ideologies and the triumph of western liberal democracy. With the necessity of fighting the wars we are in, with flat budgets planned for much the next five years, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates focused on lower costs and more flexible acquisition, analysts are increasingly concerned that we may be facing the effective end of acquisition, a period when few or no new major weapon systems are planned and bought.

One of the debates bubbling beneath the surface over the last few months has been about just what effects Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ program cuts, combined with a flat defense budget projected for the next five years, would have on America’s ability to project power. Former Air Force Secretary Mike Wynne argues in a commentary that the administration is schizophrenic about its national security approach. On the one hand, the State Department is offering the broadest defense umbrella it can to friends and allies. On the other hand, Gates is cutting crucial systems that would help the US extend and maintain that umbrella.

The QDR is pretty much finished and the major decisions made by Defense Secretary Robert Gates on April 6 are likely to comprise most of the review’s major decisions. “It appears to be essentially over:” that’s the judgment of a Pentagon official with detailed knowledge of the review. “There appears to be no appetite for anything bolder than the 6 April decisions,” this source said.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has decided to make unmanned systems a top priority and wants the service to “be viewed as the leader in unmanned systems,” the top uniformed acquisition officer said. “We will work closely with other services but the Navy has every intention of being the leader in UAVs,” Vice Adm. David Architzel, principal deputy to the assistant Navy for research, development, and acquisition, said at the beginning of the show in southern Maryland as part of AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems 2009 conference.

A new RAND study says China’s burgeoning arsenal of ballistic missiles could spell a quick defeat for the Taiwanese air force in the event of a war for the island. On the other hand, a Chinese amphibious assault would be wrecked in the face of Taiwanese anti-ship missiles. The study confirms the risk posed by “anti-access” weapons, a threat the QDR is closely examining.

The Navy’s departing head of expeditionary warfare said today that the Marine’s Expeditionary Fighting vehicle would be tough to kill since the Marines remain committed to hitting the beaches and fighting in something like the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle. Will Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ “hard look” at amphibious warfare lead to the end of the Marine’s historic role as door kickers?