OSD

Air Warfare

GAO Says Critical Space C2 Effort At Risk

GAO finds that the Space C2 program "is planning to meet previously deferred requirements that proved too complex for prior programs to achieve," and "also plans to address new and emerging threats to space assets, for which requirements are not yet defined."

Congress

Why Chairman Thornberry Failed To Tame DoD’s Fourth Estate

When House Armed Services Chairman Thornberry proposed eliminating seven agencies and reducing personnel by 25 percent, he faced strong opposition. In the HASC's draft bill, he scaled the proposal back to eliminating just three agencies. But that didn't work either. During the committee's markup of the House defense policy bill, members still pushed back.

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Air Warfare

Air Force Hasn’t Done Homework On A-10 Retirement: GAO

UPDATED: With Sen. Ayotte’s Comments WASHINGTON: The Air Force doesn’t know enough about the missions that A-10 pilots fly or how it would replace the aircraft after retirement, a congressional watchdog says, putting yet another nail into the service’s attempts to save money and retire the much-loved Warthog. Sen. John McCain, chairman of the Senate […]

Air Warfare

CBARS Drone Under OSD Review; Can A Tanker Become A Bomber?

WASHINGTON: The Navy’s new flying robot fuel truck, CBARS, is being reviewed by senior officials in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Breaking Defense has learned. Details about the current review are hard to come by. But our regular readers may be getting déjà vu, because the predecessor program, the UCLASS recon/strike drone, was stuck in OSD […]

Naval Warfare

Cut ‘Pure Overhead,’ Navy Sec. Mabus Says: DFAS, DLA, DOT&E

WASHINGTON: In what looks very much like an opening shot in a fundamental fiscal battle between the four armed services and the Office of Secretary of Defense, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus came right out today and said we should preserve fighting forces by cutting Defense Department agencies that are “pure overhead,” His prime candidates? The testers who make sure the services’ […]

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Air Warfare

Future Vertical Lift Begins Open Software Quest

WASHINGTON: The first Future Vertical Lift Aircraft won’t fly until the 2030s but the Army, Navy, and industry are already at work on software standards. Those include a new “model-based” approach to software architectures that will require a culture change among programmers and defense bureaucrats alike. Why take on so much so early? Because FVL will […]