The Defense Department should shore up homeland defenses against one of the most vexing security challenges -- enemy cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and other low-flying aircraft, Senate authorizers say.
Thursday, April 24, 2025
Thursday, April 24, 2025
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 should shore up homeland defenses against one of the most vexing security challenges -- enemy cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and other low-flying aircraft, Senate authorizers say.
No decision was reached last week at a high-level Pentagon meeting on the Marine Corps' future in Special Operations Command, according to a service spokesman.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is considering permanently assigning thousands of Marines for the first time to U.S. Special Operations Command in a bid to find additional elite commando forces to carry out the U.S. global war on terrorism, according to defense officials.
The Department of Homeland Security is seeking the military's assistance in developing a planning process to support short-notice, large-scale mobilizations of civil authorities in response to domestic crises, according to a senior Pentagon official.
The Defense Department is expanding its ability to support civil authorities in the event of massive terrorist attacks against multiple American cities, according to a senior Pentagon official.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is expected to travel next month to Asia to meet with defense ministers from the region and participate in a security conference in Singapore, according to a source familiar with the event's planning.
U.S. combatant commanders will convene in Washington May 16 to 18 for meetings with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, according to Pentagon officials.
Senior Pentagon officials leading the Quadrennial Defense Review are training their focus on the capabilities U.S. military forces need to manage future relations with China.
An influential Navy group is preparing for the service's top officer a list of missions, capabilities and requirements for the service to offer as its main contributions to the Defense Department's global war on terrorism, according to service officials and documents.
The Navy and Missile Defense Agency are studying options for defending ships against short-range ballistic missiles, including a new, unorthodox alternative -- equipping fighter aircraft with interceptors like the most advanced version of the Patriot, according to Navy documents and sources.
The Navy has quashed an internal proposal by two senior officials to avoid delivering a 30-year shipbuilding plan to Congress this summer, according to Pentagon officials and documents.
U.S. Joint Forces Command this week convened the second meeting of a blue-ribbon advisory panel assembled to critique and advise the Norfolk-based command's efforts to transform the capabilities of the American military.
A recent high-level Navy assessment of future sea-service needs that calls for a 260-ship fleet and paring back select Marine Corps capabilities is drawing sharp criticism from senior Marine generals.
U.S. military leaders guiding the Quadrennial Defense Review were at an all-day meeting today to consider what major changes in combat gear and force structure are necessary to improve the Pentagon's ability to wage a long-term battle against sophisticated terrorist networks.
The Joint Staff has standardized definitions of a wide range of military activities in a way that sets the stage for major changes to the Pentagon's weapon system procurement practices.
A special adviser to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has examined what to do with the Office of Force Transformation in light of the unexpected departure of Arthur Cebrowski, its founder and intellectual leader, and recommended no changes to the organization.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is laying plans for a special summer meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff to consider significantly realigning the military bureaucracy and budget, according to sources.
Two high-level advisory boards are accelerating work on a pair of key studies -- examining military transformation and reducing vulnerabilities to weapons of mass destruction -- in a bid to influence the ongoing Quadrennial Defense Review.
For a second consecutive year, the Pentagon is set to give combatant commanders a greater voice in shaping the Defense Department's annual spending proposal.
The Pentagon's acquisition czar-nominee pledged at a Senate confirmation hearing today to work to protect the U.S. military's procurement system from fraud and abuse in the wake of recent scandals over major Air Force weapon system programs.