TODAY’S TOP 5
1. Air Force: More than 20 percent HQ staff cuts in one year
(Federal Times) The Air Force intends to cut more than 20 percent of its headquarters staffs within a year, four years sooner than required, according to Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James.
2. Feud between SpaceX and ULA over space contract grows more intense
(Washington Post) The fight between Elon Musk's SpaceX and two of the nation's largest defense contractors has become entangled in an international dispute that could jeopardize the United States' ability to get its astronauts to the international space station.
The U.S. 3. Military: Sidelined by a Fatigued Nation
(Time) After more than a decade of war, no longer the global cop on the beat.
4. France's Sale of 2 Ships to Russians Is Ill-Advised, U.S. Warns
(New York Times) But despite American objections, the sale is still on track, and the first ship is scheduled for delivery late this year.
5. IG: Missing Swenson Medal of Honor file last seen on Petraeus' desk
(Army Times) The soldier's botched nomination packet got lost within U.S. military headquarters in Afghanistan amid a whirlwind of politics, controversy and scandalous intrigue, according to a DoD Inspector General report obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
INDUSTRY
Nuclear Weapons Complex Reform Could Mean Pay Cut For Contractors
(Global Security Newswire) The for-profit companies that run the U.S. nuclear weapons complex might have a pay cut in their future, though by how much and exactly when is still unclear.
Russia Is Turning Elon Musk into Tony Stark
(Bloomberg) The new Cold War between the U.S. and Russia is helping Tesla founder Elon Musk realize his dream of wresting the U.S. space launch market from behemoths Boeing and Lockheed Martin, which control it through their United Launch Alliance.
Textron Systems Pursues Overseas Business as Domestic Defense Market Wanes
(National Defense) Defense contractor Textron Systems is aiming to have about half of its business come from foreign markets by next year, up from about one-third, its president and CEO said May 14.
Sikorsky Plans First Flight of Autonomous Black Hawk
(Defense News) The helicopter giant will take a UH-60A and turn it into a proof-of-concept development cargo carrier. The goal is to show the rotorcraft can take off, fly and land safely while under control of a computer.
Lockheed says cyber attacks quadrupled since 2007
(Reuters) Lockheed Martin, the top provider of information technology to the U.S. government and the top Pentagon supplier, said on Wednesday the number of sophisticated cyber campaigns aimed at its computer networks had more than quadrupled since 2007.
Sikorsky's King Stallion rollout -- come to the CH-53K party!
(Defense News) It isn't often a new military helicopter is "revealed" to the public for the first time, so it's a real event whenever it takes place.
CONGRESS
Bill would increase access to autism, other therapy
(Military Times) A bipartisan foursome of senators will introduce legislation today that would increase access to specialized therapy for military children with autism and other developmental disorders. The bill would broaden Tricare's coverage of applied behavior analysis therapy.
Sen. Cornyn Urges End to Defense Spending Caps, Blasts Obama
(Defense News) The US Senate's No. 2 Republican wants to separate defense spending caps from domestic ones, while also moving to a foreign policy that rejects a "false dichotomy" between inserting American troops or doing nothing.
Sen. Ayotte says panel will save A-10 fleet
(The Hill) Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) on Wednesday expressed confidence that lawmakers will find a way to fund the Air Force's A-10 Thunderbolt II fleet when they take up the annual defense authorization bill next week.
Female lawmakers finish Afghan visit
(The Hill) A bipartisan female delegation from the House has concluded a trip to Afghanistan where they assessed security conditions on the ground and visited female soldiers.
DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Pay reform unlikely for years, budget experts say
(Military Times) A panel of progressive defense critics with the National Security Network blasted the House Armed Services Committee's recently passed defense authorization bill for fiscal 2015, calling it a shortsighted plan that ducks budget realities.
Smaller S&T Budget Means DoD is Focusing on High-Priority Items
(Seapower) The DoD science and technology budget may be shrinking, but agencies continue making progress toward giving the warfighter highly effective resources for the future, a panel of senior leaders told a Senate hearing May 14.
NIST's dream: Integrating security into design
(FCW) NIST worked "really closely" with DOD in developing the engineering guidelines, Ross said, building on a task force formed with intelligence agencies in 2009 to standardize information security for the federal government.
Halvorsen named acting DoD CIO
(C4ISR and Networks) Navy CIO Terry Halvorsen has been named acting Defense Department CIO, two weeks after the departure of former CIO Teri Takai.
DISA's push toward a mobility ecosystem
(Federal Times) A senior DISA official said everything done today in DoD from a desktop or laptop will eventually — and sooner rather than later — need to be done just as easily from a mobile device.
ARMY
82nd's 4th Brigade Combat Team to case its colors
(Army Times) Since the unit stood up in 2006, paratroopers from the "Fury Brigade" have deployed four times to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Now it will be inactivated as part of a larger Army-wide reorganization and drawdown.
Fort Benning soldiers test smartphones with robots for tactical aid
(Columbus Ledger-Enquirer) With a Dragon Runner robot and a controller guiding assault training at Fort Benning, Army Lt. Brandon Slusher reached into his pocket Tuesday and pulled out a Nexus smartphone to monitor the action.
Lawyer: Treat leaker Manning at military facility
(Army Times) The Pentagon is trying to transfer convicted national security leaker Pvt. Chelsea Manning to a civilian prison where she can get treatment for a gender-identity condition. But her lawyer said Wednesday that could place her in danger.
Camp Roberts shows off new facility for drone training
(The (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) Tribune) A new facility where soldiers can practice flying unmanned aircraft from the ground was unveiled Tuesday at Camp Roberts, California.
Post Office seeks to deliver WWII letter
(Associated Press) In 1945, a letter was addressed to a western Michigan couple and mailed from a sergeant at an Army base in New York State.
NAVY
NAVAIR: Final UCLASS Request for Proposal Due in July
(USNI News) Despite a Congressional push to stall the Navy's next-gene carrier-based UAV, Naval Air Systems Command plans to issue a full request for proposal (RFP) for the Unmanned Carrier Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) in July.
Navy: Petty officer lists coming May 23
(Navy Times) On Wednesday, the Navy said it planned to release the petty officer quotas and the much-awaited advancement list the week of May 19-23.
Suicide survivor's story leads other sailors to seek help
(Navy Times) Jeromy Kelsey, 38 and an 18-year Navy veteran, is up a second time for senior chief and plans to stick around the Navy a little longer. After years of silence about his attempted suicide, he's started talking about his journey.
AIR FORCE
U.S. Air Force Says It's 'Busting Butt' to Certify Musk's SpaceX
(Bloomberg) The U.S. Air Force is spending about $60 million and using as many as 100 people to certify billionaire Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. for launching military and spy satellites, according to the service's top uniformed acquisition official.
Report: U.S. Military Needs More Drones, Not Better Ones
(Popular Science) In a new paper, the think tank Rand Corporation outlines the future of military drones.
New York airman receives 2nd heroism medal
(Air Force Times) Staff Sgt. Matthew Zimmer was part of a four-member Air Force rescue team that saved the life of a Marine who had been seriously injured by a roadside bomb in February 2012.
Colorado military reservists prepare for aerial wildfire fighting duty
(KWGN) Starting Friday, reservists of the 302nd Wing at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs will recertify themselves in the Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System or MAFFS.
MARINE CORPS
Fire prompts evacuations at Camp Pendleton, emergency declared in San Diego
(Washington Post) Fires at Camp Pendleton, a Marine Corps base located between Los Angeles and San Diego, prompted evacuations on Wednesday as wildfires tore through parts of coastal California.
U.S. Marines Monitoring Unrest in North Africa Won't Go to Nigeria
(NBC News) Nearly 200 U.S. Marines have been mobilized from Spain to Sicily because of the growing unrest in North Africa. But Pentagon officials cautioned Wednesday there are no plans to deploy them to terror-gripped Nigeria.
Crisis response Marines positioned closer to Africa
(Marine Corps Times) Nearly a quarter of the Corps' Spain-based crisis response force has been prepositioned in southern Italy at the request of the State Department to respond more quickly to diplomatic crises that might break out in northern Africa.
VETERANS
Obama Has Every Reason to Fix the VA. Why Hasn't He?
(National Journal) In short, because fixing the VA backlog isn't just a question of putting the proper resources into an overwhelmed agency. Dysfunctional bureaucracy and decades of neglect have been compounded in the past few years, making the problem much, much worse.
VA Day of Reckoning: Head Could Roll Over 'Secret Lists'
(Time) Whether the sword falls won't depend so much on what VA Secretary Eric Shinseki tells the Senate. What's critical is how Congress and veterans react to what he says, and what a VA-wide inspector general's probe into the problem turns up.
What To Expect at the Senate Hearing on VA Wait Lists
(DefenseOne) Perhaps the hottest of Washington's hot seats on Thursday will be in the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee's hearing room, where an embattled Cabinet secretary will respond for the first time in detail to charges of fatal mismanagement at veterans hospitals.
Wounded warriors say brain therapy program lifts TBI 'fog'
(Military Times) Developed by neuroscientists, SMART is a cognitive program designed to enhance mental productivity by teaching patients to focus on "big picture" creative thinking instead of minutiae.
Report: VA not following guidelines on pain drugs
(Military Times) The Veterans Affairs Department may not be overprescribing potentially addictive opioid painkillers, but a new report by the department's Inspector General says it is failing to screen adequately for potential abuse or protect some patients who are given such drugs.
Obama taps close adviser to oversee review of VA allegations
(Associated Press) White House deputy chief of staff Rob Nabors will be temporarily assigned to the VA to work on a review focused on policies for patient safety rules and the scheduling of patient appointments, officials said Wednesday.
Veterans Group Will Launch Whistleblower Project After VA Hospital Scandal
(Buzzfeed) A unprecedented new campaign by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America teaches VA employees and veterans how to become the next Edward Snowden.
Vets push Congress for more support of vet entrepreneur programs
(Military Times) Programs such as Operation Boots to Business, a U.S. Small Business Administration initiative developed with Syracuse University, have come under fire from lawmakers who said the efforts lack oversight and may be redundant to private-sector offerings.
MIDDLE EAST
Hagel Urges Gulf Arab States, Divided Over Policy, to Unite for Security
(New York Times) Hegel spoke as the United States sought to strengthen its influence in a region that has been splintering over how to deal with democracy protests in Egypt, the uprising in Syria and Iran's nuclear program.
U.S. Projects Tough Stance to Both Sides of Syria War
(New York Times) With Syria peace prospects in a basic state of collapse, the United States sought to project a toughened posture on Wednesday, conducting military exercises with neighboring Jordan and designating two leaders of Syrian jihadist groups as "global terrorists."
Saudi King Reshuffles Defense Posts
(Agence France-Presse) Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on Wednesday reshuffled top defense posts, removing the deputy minister and the chief of staff, state news agency SPA reported.
Iran's Drone War in Syria
(Daily Beast) Iran has been providing Syria's regime with drones—some of them inspired by American technology—and they're already playing a significant role in keeping Bashar Assad in power.
U.S.'Not on a Path' To Help Syrian Rebels Win, Says Dempsey
(DefenseOne) Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey says the United States is not providing Syrian rebels what they would need to win the war against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
EUROPE
In Ukraine talks, finger-pointing and little sign of progress
(Washington Post) The first round of talks on Ukrainian national unity descended into grandstanding and accusations Wednesday, offering no sign of a diplomatic breakthrough in the region's tensest standoff since the Cold War.
Russia Praises French 'Reliability' In Warship Deal
(Agence France-Presse) Russia's state arms exporter on Wednesday praised France for sticking by a contract to build two Mistral warships for the Russian navy despite US objections to the project.
Czech MoD to buy upgrades for leased Gripens
(IHS Jane's 360) The Czech Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed it will procure additional systems packages for its fleet of 14 Saab Gripen C/D fighters as part of its new lease of the aircraft between 2015 and 2027.
Belgium Upgrading its F-16s
(Defense Industry Daily) Belgium is embarking on minor but useful modernization of its remaining F-16 fleet, which is expected to serve until at least 2022, and could easily end up serving past 2030.
French Minister Asked To Clarify Budget-Cut Reports
(Defense News) Members of France's opposition conservative party have called for a parliamentary hearing with Finance Minister Michel Sapin following media reports of planned cuts in the defense budget.
Today's Special: Turkey Subs
(Defense Industry Daily) The US DSCA announces Turkey's formal export request for up to 48 MK 48 Mod 6 Advanced Technology All-Up-Round (MK-48 Mod 6AT AUR) Warshot Torpedoes.
AFRICA
Pentagon using drone, surveillance aircraft in Nigeria
(USA Today) The high-flying drone, Global Hawk, has been joined by MC-12 Liberty aircraft, which have pilots and a crew, to vacuum up images and communication signals, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the aircraft the military has deployed.
Insurgents hit Yemeni army; 30 militants and eight soldiers dead
(Reuters) The Yemeni army killed more than 30 al Qaeda insurgents in heavy fighting on Wednesday, a senior military commander said, after the Islamists attacked military posts in a southern province where the government launched an offensive two weeks ago.
GoAGT: International Cooperation Needed to Tackle Maritime Crime at Source in West Africa
(Seapower) The shipping industry and coastal countries in West Africa should increase training and cooperation to prevent maritime crime from spreading in the region, said a leading maritime security company, Gulf of Aden Group Transits Ltd. (GoAGT).
ASIA-PACIFIC
China Puts Brass On Trial In Fight Against Military Corruption
(NPR) China's ongoing crackdown on military corruption may be the toughest — or at least best publicized — in more than six decades of communist rule. Some top brass are on trial, and teams of inspectors have fanned in search of graft.
Japanese Panel Urges Greater Military Role
(ABC News) In a recommendation submitted Thursday to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a government-appointed panel has urged Japan to reinterpret its pacifist constitution to allow the use of military force to defend other countries.
Philippines: China May Be Building Airstrip at Disputed Reef
(Defense News) Filipino surveillance aircraft have been monitoring large-scale reclamation and earth-moving activity on Chinese-held Johnson South Reef since January, the defense department said.
North Korea's Actions at Atomic Test Site Confound Experts
(Global Security Newswire) Trying to discern what Pyongyang is planning at its nuclear test site is a maddening challenge for foreign observers, as the latest image analysis shows.
US, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea Willing To Push On North Korean Nukes, But...
(Breaking Defense) The US, Russia, and China — despite all their other differences — can agree on a basic approach to how to deal with North Korea's nuclear arsenal. The bad news? That approach can't work.
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
The 2014 Counterinsurgency Field Manual Requires Pre-Publication Review
(Small Wars Journal) COIN is conducted by captains, not generals. So why not let the captains decide about the merits of this FM? Ask a dozen company commanders from Afghanistan to respond to the following query...
Congress is hating on SOCOM, but please don't take it out on the battered troops
('Socom Man' in Foreign Policy) Congress has a reason to be mad at SOCOM. The command has behaved very badly lately — the natural result of a bureaucracy that has been given lots of money and praise, and has expanded beyond its founders' intent.
A Looming Arms Race in East Asia?
(The National Interest) Beyond headlines, designed to shock and awe, a closer inspection reveals that East Asian regional military expenditures are at a twenty-five-year low when measured as a proportion of GDP, and are almost half of what countries spent during the Cold War.
Can Israel's Stealth Fighters Really Carry Nukes?
(War Is Boring) There are good reasons to doubt so.
Amazing Military Infographics: An appreciation
(Medium) Some nights I like to get the kids to bed, pour a drink, and search the web for military-produced PDFs in order to look at the amazing graphics within them.
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