Defense Tech
The future of the military, law enforcement, and national security.

Thursday -- Fire for Effect
Tali-baddie snuffed out in Pakistan Hogs now porting JDAMs Awesome: History's six most lethal aircraft Squids getting their money's worth out of LANTFLT An open letter to the CNO Hey, even Islam's got Rednecks. --John Noonan...

Madam SECDEF?
Senator Clinton isn't the only female in the hunt for a major cabinet position in the Obama administration. Word on the street is that Michelle Flournoy is under strong consideration for the Secretary of Defense post. Ms. Flournoy, a graduate of Harvard and Oxford, made her bones as a DoD worker bee with the Clinton Administration. She went on to teach at the National Defense University and -in 2007- co-founded the respected Center for New American Security. She's also one of the two principal defense brains assigned to President-elect Obama's transition team. Flournoy knows her business, has a strong background in both asymmetrical and traditional state threats, and seems to believe in a moderate approach to any withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. She's experienced, qualified, and her centrist positions on defense issues would (seemingly) make her a safe choice to head up the DoD. Unfortunately, Ms. Flournoy's reasoned approach to Iraq -withdrawal that takes into consideration the efficacy of the Iraqi government and logistical realities- could lock horns with Obama's ideological "withdraw now, regardless" plan. Any drawdown that falls short of Obama's campaign promise of expedited removal of US troops from theater risks upsetting the easily perturbed, zealous...

Stealthy Airlift for Commandos
Another intriguing idea that emerged from this week's Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments talk comes from Bob Martinage who discussed the Special Operations Community's airlift shortfall. You saw yesterday that we mentioned the debate over CV and MV-22 numbers and the potential replacements for a reduced buy of Ospreys for the spec ops community. But one thing I didn't write about was Martinage's call for a stealthy long-range transport for use by SOF to sneak larger numbers of personnel and equipment into shady LZs. What Martinage proposes is to use the same airframe that the Air Force decides on for its new Next-Generation bomber program. Think of it as B-1 meets C-17. If we want to gain access into a denied environment like China in the future, we've got to have a stealthy SOF transport. The C-130, even with all the tricks it can do for active defenses and so on, is not going to be survivable against the types of integrated air defenses that are available today, let alone 2015 or beyond. Whether it's for inserting ground forces into an anti-access area or denied environment against China, Iran or you name it -- or [for] truly clandestine...

Marines Being Marines (Better than Last Time)
This is a picture from a gallery by John Moore, a kick butt shooter (photo) who's been in Afghanistan for a while during the last month. I posted it because I want to see how quickly our well-informed DT readers can spot ... well, WHY I thought it was a cool picture. Moore's caption reads simply: "U.S. Marines scan for Taliban insurgents as Afghan forces search a house for weapons October 25, 2008 in the Korengal Valley of Kunar Province in eastern Afghanistan." Make sure to check out the entire gallery. It really brings back memories... -- Christian...

Dogfight Over F-22 Reveals DoD Schisms
This article first appeared in Aerospace Daily & Defense Report. The battle over how many F-22 Raptors the U.S. Air Force requires is revealing some nasty infighting as the White House administration change nears. The Defense Secretary staff has told Air Force planners not to talk to congressional staffers and to work only through the offices of Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England and acquisition chief John Young. Insiders on Capitol Hill contend that the Defense Department has been and is continuing to withhold F-22 funds -- in defiance of the law and the intent of Congress -- in an attempt to punish the Air Force. England is still angry about the service's success in getting Congress to approve long-lead funding for 20 more aircraft, which would bring the service's total to 203 stealthy fighters. However, the Office of the Secretary of Defense has released funds for only four aircraft, which brought howls from aerospace analysts that it is too few aircraft to avoid a shutdown of production between administrations. The U.S. Air Force's new chief of staff, Gen. Norton Schwartz, is soon supposed to tell the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin (D-Mich.), how many F-22s...

V-22 = F-22?
Some of the sharpest minds -- and least partisan -- on defense issues in Washington spoke during a conference with media and other military experts yesterday on where they believed the Army, Marine Corps and Special Operations forces should go in the coming years in terms of organization, equipment and strategy. It was an incredibly interesting series of talks from the folks at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments and brought up a number of key issues and recommendations that in some cases jibe with what those services/organizations are already doing and forged some new ground on how the key players in the GWOT should better shed the idea of "next war-itis." We'll be rolling out their recommendations over the next couple days here and at DoD Buzz, but I wanted to throw this one out there at the outset to get the pot stirred a bit. Both Dakota Wood and Robert Martinage -- who spoke about the Marine Corps force posture and that of the Spec Ops community, respectively -- called for a reduction of the MV-22 buy for the Marine Corps and a recognition that the Osprey couldn't satisfy the Spec Ops aviation shortfall. Like the...

PECOC Getting More Feathers
The British military continues development of its Personal Equipment and Common Operational Clothing (PECOC) program to serve as a bridge between Soldier 95 kit and the planned Future Integrated Soldier Technology (FIST). Press reporting continues and in addition to the previous piece on the BBC, on 3 November 2008, The Times published an article on PECOC. In the photo you can see an example of the new Hybrid Cam Day Sack. Examples of trials clothing that have been seen feature Napoleon pockets to maintain a low profile under armor, stand up collars and full bicep pockets with velcro. The Smock is expected to under go some changes from the current SF smock and a second insulated, waterproof jacket is planned. Interestingly, every time the UK issues a new Smock it is based on the current issue SF Smock, which naturally changes as well. Additionally, it looks as though Britain will adopt the MOLLE standard for attachment systems as they move closer and closer to purchasing new equipment. Finally, amid concerns of third party kit of dubious quality, there are indications that the UK military may follow a plan similar to the “Certified Team Soldier Gear” initiative proposed by the...

Paks Rumbling with Afghan Rebels?
Here's a little tid bit on the cutting room floor from last week's interview with the Pentagon's policy chief, Eric Edelman. The other day I got an email from a source of mine who claimed some of his buddies working in the private security industry in Pakistan and Afghanistan told him Pakistani intelligence officers have been found in "non life-supporting postures" after skirmishes or air strikes on insurgents in Afghanistan. In other words, elements within Pakistan's ISI are directly aiding anti-coalition forces in Afghanistan -- sometimes engaging in combat operations with them. I asked Edelman what the deal was...here's a brief transcript of how that conversation went: Defense Tech: In Afghanistan, have you seen any evidence of Pakistani agencies' involvement in assisting the Taliban and other parties within Afghanistan against US troops and also within the [federally administered tribal areas]? Edelman: I think that, you know, there's a long history here. The Pakistan government for a very long time has regarded Afghanistan as its 'strategic depth' and clearly there have been relationships that go back to the Mujahaddin era that have persisted. We've had some concerns about it, we've expressed those concerns. We had a meeting with the head...

Legal Risk of Cyber Outage
New analysis indicates that critical infrastructure operators are ill prepared to deal with cyber attacks. That reinforced the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report earlier this year that found Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation's largest public power company serving over 8.7 million people, is vulnerable to cyber attacks. One just released study asked respondents to indicate the state of readiness to defend against IT threats in eight different industries. The results showed that 50 percent of respondents said that utilities, oil and gas, transportation, telecommunications, chemical, emergency services and postal/shipping industries were not prepared. The energy sector emerged as the most vulnerable target. So it is no wonder the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is once again moving to address the threat to our nation's critical infrastructure. DHS is looking for public input as it prepares for next year's release of a revised version of the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP), thus updating the 2006 version of the plan. The federal government has sought to actively engage the private sector in a number of industries to address the threat of cyber attacks. Originally, the federal government identified seventeen critical infrastructure areas and designated federal agencies to be in charge of...

Monday -- Fire for Effect
JSF goes supersonic Seal Sub burns Ummm, Iceland offered the Russians what? BAE busting baddies' SAMs Ivan snubs US Marines Blast from the past part II: Freaky deaky airmobile ICBM test...

Project Valour-IT
I hope you all don't mind, but I've got to hit the pause button for a moment and knock out a little public service announcement. I've been involved with Project Valour-IT for several years now and I can honestly say that the annual fall charity drive is one of my favorite times to be a blogger. The blogosphere-driven fundraising drive raises all kinds of dosh to purchase voice-activated laptops for soldiers who have lost limbs in combat. Those specially modded lappies make it possible for wounded troops to write and answer emails, update friends and family on their progress, and otherwise make them feel human and functional again. Major Chuck Ziegenfuss, who was seriously injured by an IED blast in 2005 and was one of the first recipients of a Valour-IT laptop sends (with some selective edits) the rundown: Valour-IT is completely out of money, and it's really going to be a shitty Christmas for wounded service members waiting for laptops. And yes Virginia, there is a waiting list. So we begin the Valour-IT veteran's day fundraising project. Our goal is $250000, and that means each of the five branches are racing to the $50,000 finish line. Team Army...

Resolving the Next-Gen Armor Muddle
[From our friends at Breach-Bang-Clear on the Woroner armor debate.] All right boys and girls, there’s been a helluva lot of discussion here about Dave Woroner's armor design and whether it would work or not work or whatever. Honestly I think part of the problem is that first off it’s over most (not all) of our heads. Second off, Woroner doesn’t want to tell too much about the damned thing out of OPSEC or COMSEC concerns, which makes explanation difficult at best. Imagine trying to explain a lawnmower engine if you couldn't talk about internal combustion, or if pistons were classifed. Lemme see what I can do to make it make a little sense. Have you heard about the Boomerang System made by BBN Technologies in Boston? It’s an acoustical sensor system that uses "acoustical entrapment" to quickly and reliably identify the location of a sniper or other shooter that’s putting rounds downrange towards our grunts. It's been on Future Weapons and a couple other shows, has actually deployed to the AOR and apparently works. Woroner’s system is kind of like that, but it uses light sensitivity to detect incoming projectiles. Sound won’t work, it’s too slow for a...

Marines Being Marines
Killing time at the combat outpost... (Gouge: Militaryphotos.net) -- Christian...

An Afghan 'Surge' no sure Winner
One of the Pentagon’s top policymakers warned Thursday that a “surge” of U.S. troops to Afghanistan like the one executed in Iraq 18 months ago doesn’t recognize the complexities of the Taliban and al Qaeda-sponsored violence there and could backfire. Eric Edelman, the Pentagon’s top civilian policy advisor to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, said the situation in Afghanistan is far different than the one faced by U.S. troops in Iraq during the darkest days of sectarian violence in 2006, “We shouldn’t just focus on the numbers of forces,” Edelman told defense reporters at a Nov. 13 breakfast meeting in Washington. “The success of the surge in Iraq, in my view, was less a function of the increased numbers … it was what they were doing that mattered.” “The single-minded focus on what’s the level of force is wrong headed because there are a lot of elements that go into it and there’s no magic number,” he added. Edelman said the Pentagon had executed what he called a “silent surge” of about 30,000 U.S. and NATO troops into Afghanistan in 2006, “but the scale of the insurgency began to outpace even the steps that we had taken.” While Iraq has...

Army Aviation Accidents Top $16 Billion
This article first appeared at Aviation Week.com. U.S. Army aviation accidents and incidents have cost the service about $16.2 billion over the past dozen years, according to an exclusive Aerospace DAILY analysis of data provided by the Army Combat Readiness/Safety Center (USACRC). The average cost per an accident or incident for the more than 30,000 events was $539,281, the analysis shows, with a maximum single-event cost of about $62.4 million. The mishaps have lead to 2,856 deaths. So far this fiscal year -- Oct. 1 through Nov. 10 -- the service seems to be off on solid footing as far as mishaps go, according to online statistics released through the USACRC. The Army shows seven reported Class A-C aviation accidents in FY '09. There are three flight accidents resulting in an overall rate of 2.385 accidents per 100,000 hours flown within the Army flying hour program. The current number of Class A-C accidents is 65 percent below last fiscal year, and 73 percent below a three-year average of the same periods. The Army has lost no soldiers this fiscal year in aviation mishaps. Reducing fatalities and injuries has been a priority for Army safety leaders. "While I'm not a fan...


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