* US Defense Acquisition Undersecretary Frank Kendall suggested [Defense News] that Congress create a "reserve spending account" that he could tap when programs need additional support without punishing other programs that perform well. He knows that is not going to...
Swedish HKP-16(click to view full) In September 2010, required DSCA arms sale notifications announced a possible Swedish buy of up to 15 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, plus side items like engines, defensive systems, and support, for up to $546 million. Their mission?...
* Japan released its latest annual defense whitepaper, with a wary eye on China's increasing military spending and improving capabilities. * Germany cancelled a €100M ($135M) deal to build a training camp for Russia. Deutsche Welle | Süddeutsche Zeitung [in German]. *...
* New technologies, including the Hermes 900 UAV, are being put to the test [Haaretz] by the Israel Defense Forces in their campaign against Hamas. But their efficiency may be backfiring as public opinion, rightly or wrongly, draws moral conclusions from very lopsided...
* The Congress-mandated National Defense Panel issued a report [PDF] criticizing the Pentagon's 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review for being a strategy driven by budget constraints, a conclusion that could be reached after 5 minutes of scanning through the QDR....
CC-130 over BC(click to view full) The US military has been coming to the realization that its aging aircraft fleet will begin posing serious challenges in the coming years. Canada is experiencing similar problems. In 2005, Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier...
* US Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James is worried about the service's current readiness because of budgetary squabbling, but that didn't stop her from releasing a lofty long-term strategy document [PDF] where the word "global" appears no less than 65 times (one...
* Iraq's government would like to procure more Hellfire missiles [US DSCA] as well as helicopter sustainment services from the US. * In the meantime ISIS is busy establishing Shari'a law, and a modicum of governmental services, in the northern city of Mosul. Institute...
FAB P-3AM(click to view full) The discovery of major deepwater oil finds off of Brazil's coast changed its military priorities. The military's mission has always been influenced by the land's vastness, but until recently, that meant keeping a careful watch over the...