Taking aim: Army leaders ponder mix of precision munitions vs conventional

Taking aim: Army leaders ponder mix of precision munitions vs conventional
Taking aim: Army leaders ponder mix of precision munitions vs conventional

Three four-star US Army generals this week weighed in with their opinions about finding the right balance between conventional and high-tech munitions – but the answers aren’t easy.

Israeli Loitering Munitions To Get US Test In October

Israeli Loitering Munitions To Get US Test In October
Israeli Loitering Munitions To Get US Test In October

Loitering munitions were used extensively in the recent conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Hypersonics, Unmanned Ship Teaming Ahead for Zumwalt Destroyer

Hypersonics, Unmanned Ship Teaming Ahead for Zumwalt Destroyer
Hypersonics, Unmanned Ship Teaming Ahead for Zumwalt Destroyer

Navy officials said this week that the destroyer, which still hasn’t been deployed almost five years after she was christened, might find a place in the fleet after all.

Afghan AF Getting New Hellfire-Shooting Planes; More Airstrikes  Coming

Afghan AF Getting New Hellfire-Shooting Planes; More Airstrikes  Coming
Afghan AF Getting New Hellfire-Shooting Planes; More Airstrikes Coming

WASHINGTON: The Afghan Air Force is about to get a powerful new weapon in what is shaping up to be a bloody year in the 17-year-old war against the Taliban. On Friday, the U.S. Air Force announced an $86 million deal with an American defense contractor Orbital ATK to supply single-engine, turboprop AC-208 airplanes to…

‘Drive Russians Bananas’ With Rockets In Boxes: CSIS On Hidden Missiles

‘Drive Russians Bananas’ With Rockets In Boxes: CSIS On Hidden Missiles
‘Drive Russians Bananas’ With Rockets In Boxes: CSIS On Hidden Missiles

“All warfare is based on deception,” Sun Tzu wrote 2,500 years ago. It’s a lesson the US military largely forgot after the Cold War, when we got in the habit of building huge, easily targeted bases. Now we must relearn deception as Russia, China, and other adversaries field, not only their own precision weapons, but…

Build Bare-Bones Network & Small Satellites For Multi-Domain Battle

Build Bare-Bones Network & Small Satellites For Multi-Domain Battle
Build Bare-Bones Network & Small Satellites For Multi-Domain Battle

WASHINGTON: The Navy wants the Army’s help win a future Multi-Domain Battle with China, a senior defense official told me last week, but to get it, the two services have to connect through a simple, robust network using small and rapidly-launched satellites. We don’t need massive bandwidth to handle video teleconferences, full motion video from drones,…

Bring Back Artillery Submunitions; Russian Threat Too Great

Bring Back Artillery Submunitions; Russian Threat Too Great
Bring Back Artillery Submunitions; Russian Threat Too Great

Bob Scales has run a lot of war games. I covered him doing them back in the late 1990s. Plus he’s held a lot of the most important jobs in the Army, including at the Army’s home of artillery, Fort Sill. He was around when the battle was on to ban landmines, which bear many similarities…

China’s J-20 Vs. F-35? Meh, Says CSAF Goldfein; Pilot Crisis Noted

China’s J-20 Vs. F-35? Meh, Says CSAF Goldfein; Pilot Crisis Noted
China’s J-20 Vs. F-35? Meh, Says CSAF Goldfein; Pilot Crisis Noted

PENTAGON: I thought I could hear Air Force and allied F-35 pilots around the world smiling when the new Air Force Chief of Staff said today that comparing the F-35 to the Chinese J-20 “is almost an irrelevant comparison.” The F-35, said Gen. David Goldfein, is “about a family of systems and it’s about a network — that’s what…

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Pentagon Fails To Act On Crucial Rare Earth Minerals

Pentagon Fails To Act On Crucial Rare Earth Minerals
Pentagon Fails To Act On Crucial Rare Earth Minerals

A new Government Accountability Office report scolds the Department of Defense for failing to figure out which rare earth elements are critical to national security — China controls the world market — and for not developing plans to make sure the United States has enough even though Congress passed a law telling them to five years…