Wednesday, May 14, 2025
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Jason Sherman is a reporter for Inside Defense. For more than two decades -- including stints with Defense News and Armed Forces Journal -- he has covered the Pentagon, defense industry, the military budget, weapon system acquisition and defense policy formulation as well as reporting on technology, business, and global arms trade. Jason has traveled to more than 40 countries, studied medieval history at the State University of New York at Buffalo, and lives in Brooklyn.
The Defense Department last week proposed a sweeping set of legislative changes for lawmakers to consider adding to the 2007 authorization bill, including provisions that aim to advance key objectives of the recently completed Quadrennial Defense Review.
The Pentagon's acquisition executive has blessed Air Force plans to pursue a multiyear procurement contract for the F-22A, an arrangement that service officials believe could save as much as $500 million.
The Navy and Marine Corps need $17.2 billion to restore and replace equipment and supplies expended during operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the Navy secretary.
The Defense Department has determined there is no place in its heavy lift air fleet for a commercialized version of the C-17 cargo plane, a move that sets back plans by aircraft maker Boeing to establish a need by the Air Force for its fledgling BC-17.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has asked Army Gen. Bryan "Doug" Brown, head of U.S. Special Operations Command, to extend his tour as leader of the Tampa, FL-based organization, a move that will keep the four-star Special Forces officer in charge of U.S. military counterterrorism efforts through at least September 2007, according to Pentagon and congressional sources.
The Defense Department's high-level weapon acquisition council will convene tomorrow to consider whether the Joint Strike Fighter program -- the largest military aircraft acquisition program in history -- is ready to shift from development to procurement.
The U.S. military can reduce its vulnerability to disruptive threats by increasing investments in programs that accelerate transformation, which will make American forces a more difficult target to attack.
The Navy is preparing to deploy an aircraft carrier strike group to the Caribbean for the first time in two years, in an operation designed to enhance relations with maritime forces across the region and prepare the strike group for a longer mission.
The Defense Department has issued a new strategy for combating weapons of mass destruction, spelling out military objectives and responsibilities for dealing with the threat of nuclear, biological, chemical and dirty bombs.
An influential Defense Department advisory board has recommended the Air Force consider a range of alternative fuels to power its aircraft, a move that could make the massive air fleet more efficient and reduce dependence on foreign sources of oil.
Senior Pentagon leaders constructing the military's new six-year spending plan this summer will employ a potentially powerful new tool that could allow unprecedented comparisons of weapon system capabilities and assist decision-makers in deciding whether to move resources between service budgets.
The U.S. military's ability to launch strategic strikes with both nuclear and non-nuclear weapons is at risk of erosion due to the "imminent loss" of skills required to support research, development and production of systems that assist in delivering long-range attacks, according to a group of senior advisers to the Pentagon's leadership.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has elected to retain as a permanent part of the Defense Department's senior management structure a group of key Pentagon executives and top brass formed last summer to sift through significant policy, budget, procurement, personnel and intelligence issues during the Quadrennial Defense Review.
The high-tech U.S. military is eyeing a mix of low-tech weapons and new training to execute a central objective of the Defense Department's Quadrennial Defense Review -- enhancing partner nations' ability to independently fight terrorist networks, according to senior military officials.
The Pentagon's acquisition executive yesterday blessed the Navy to move its plans for a new generation of prepositioning ships from the drawing board into the technology development phase, a key step in the sea service's effort to develop what it calls a "sea base."
Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England has directed U.S. combatant commanders to identify in detail capabilities they need to execute the global war on terrorism, a move expected to generate enormous new bills that could tilt investments away from long-term weapon development programs to pay for nearer-term needs.
The Defense Department is teeing up a new policy that aims to limit the disclosure of information about roadside bombs -- including military defenses and vulnerabilities -- in order to "deny enemies easy access to critical intelligence," according to a draft of the policy.
Pentagon officials are poring over wish lists for new combat capabilities recently submitted by the U.S. military's top operational commanders, requests that are expected to be pivotal in the coming months in shaping the Pentagon's new six-year spending plan, according to a senior military official.
President Bush has issued a new, classified directive to better coordinate the efforts of all federal agencies that play a role in fighting militant Islamic terrorist activities around the world, according to a senior government official.
An influential advisory panel to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says the Pentagon should increase its investment in a nondescript but crucial program that gives private manufacturing firms federal research funds to improve technologies considered essential to the production of future weapon systems.