The Insider

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey and his South Korean counterpart, Gen. Jung Seung Jo, today convened the 37th Republic of Korea-United States Military Committee Meeting, according to a joint communique issued by the Pentagon.

"Both chairmen reaffirmed that the Republic of Korea-United States alliance is stronger than ever," the communique reads, adding:

On the basis of the mutual defense treaty, the two chairmen reaffirmed not only the commitment to enhancing mutual security, but also the commitment to the enduring mission of the alliance, which is to defend the Republic of Korea through a robust combined defense posture. They also reaffirmed that both countries will respond firmly to any provocation by North Korea, in accordance with the Republic of Korea-United States Bilateral Counter-Provocation Plan.

Gen. Dempsey reiterated the firm and unwavering commitment of the United States to defend the Republic of Korea, using all available military capabilities, including forces postured on the Korean Peninsula, its nuclear umbrella, conventional strike and missile defense capabilities.

Gen. Jung echoed the Republic of Korea's commitment to strengthen the level of its capabilities and enhance the level of military cooperation in the region, in response to North Korea's ongoing pattern of defiance and provocative actions, which pose a serious threat to the Korean Peninsula, Northeast Asia, and international peace and security.

Both chairmen also reaffirmed their commitment to further enhance the alliance's deterrence capabilities and highlighted the bilateral decision to prepare sufficient capabilities for the defense of the Republic of Korea.

In addition, the Republic of Korea-United States Military Committee reaffirmed that preparations for wartime operational control transition are on-track with the Strategic Alliance 2015 implementation plan. To ensure a resolute and enduring combined defense posture, the military committee shared perspectives on the future command structure and agreed to refine the specifics and make a recommendation and seek approval at the security consultative meeting this October.

Both chairmen assessed that the discussions at the 37th MCM have made a significant contribution to enhancing the Republic of Korea-United States alliance and strengthening the military relations between the two countries. Both chairmen expect to hold the next military committee meeting at a mutually convenient time in 2013.

Inside the Pentagon reports this morning that Rep. Doug Lamborn's (R-CO) disclosure of a military intelligence assessment of North Korean nuclear missile capabilities made headlines last week, an episode that may be most noteworthy for the prominent role unnamed Capitol Hill staffers played in funneling the information to the congressman and shaping the ensuing media buzz. Further:

At issue is a two-line fragment from a Defense Intelligence Agency report, which Lamborn read to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey during an April 11 House Armed Services Committee hearing. According to Lamborn, the otherwise classified report included an unclassified section that states: "DIA assesses with moderate confidence the North currently has nuclear weapons capable of delivery by ballistic missiles. However, the reliability will be low."

Dempsey, who was asked whether he agreed with the assessment, declined to comment out of fear of discussing sensitive information publicly and because he had not seen the report.

News stories about the exchange began popping up quickly after the hearing, highlighting the potential of the new DIA finding to be a game-changer for U.S. policy regarding an already tense situation on the Korean peninsula. Common to many stories was a reference to one or more House Armed Services Committee aides, who were quoted anonymously. The Wall Street Journal, for example, quoted a staffer describing the assessment as "more forward-leaning about the threat than they've previously said." In addition, the staffer told the paper, "Clearly, they are very alarmed, and the information they are seeing shows a great deal of alarm -- and now more information is coming out for the American people to see."

Similarly, a Defense News article leaned heavily on an anonymous committee staff source who said the White House had tried to suppress the information Lamborn cited. (That story also said the congressman had sent "ripple waves around the world.")

Meanwhile, Lamborn has not read the DIA report in its entirety, spokeswoman Catherine Mortensen told Inside the Pentagon this week. "The only portion he has seen is the unclassified quote," she said, adding that one of the committee's senior staffers with the requisite security clearance had read the whole DIA document.

Read the full story.

The Defense Department plans to move ahead with a scheduled ballistic missile test launch in late May, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs Madelyn Creedon told Congress today. Her comments come about 10 days after DOD canceled a similar test launch out of Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA, because of concerns the test would lead to a reaction from North Korea.

DOD performs about three Air Force-run Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile test launches per year, with those events scheduled for April, May and September of 2013. The April launch was scrapped after a series of provocative incidents occurred in quick succession, among them a North Korean nuclear test and a B-2 stealth bomber flight over South Korea. But for now, DOD intends to keep the May test on the calendar.

"We thought it was wise to postpone for a while the last launch because of the situation on the Korean Peninsula," Creedon said. "Right now, it is the plan of the department and the plan for the Air Force to do the next launch. We have a window of May 21-23. That is the current schedule. What we’ve actually done is the system that was going to be launched, this particular launch is going to just move to the right, so we’ll move everything to the right a little bit."

Creedon, responding to questions from Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO), was testifying before the Senate Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee. Udall is the subcommittee's chairman. Other witness at the unclassified portion of the hearing included Lt. Gen. James Kowalski, the head of Air Force Global Strike Command; Maj. Gen. Garrett Harencak, the Air Force's assistant chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration; Rear Adm. Terry Benedict, the director of strategic programs for the Navy; and Andrew Weber, the assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical, and biological defense programs.

Following the open portion of the hearing, Senators broke into a classified session where they met with the program manager for the Air Force's secretive Long-Range Strike Bomber, Col. Timothy Woods.

A new Senate Armed Services Committee report on the Pentagon's annual $10 billion overseas spending "has found construction projects lacking congressional or Pentagon oversight, and allied contributions failing to keep up with rapidly rising U.S. costs," according to a panel statement:

The year-long review of spending in Japan, South Korea and Germany, where nearly 70 percent of spending to support our permanent overseas facilities takes place, suggests that changes to the management of such spending are necessary and that closer scrutiny is warranted to avoid future commitments that may be inefficient or unaffordable.

"Japan, South Korea and Germany are critical allies.  In order to better sustain our presence in these important locations, we need to understand and control our costs.  Federal dollars should always be spent with utmost care, but at a time when the Pentagon and the entire federal government face enormous fiscal challenges, the questionable projects and lack of oversight identified in this review are simply unacceptable," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the committee chairman. "Every dollar spent on unnecessary or unsustainable projects is a dollar unavailable to care for our troops and their families, to maintain and modernize equipment, and to pay for necessary investments in base infrastructure."

"This report reaffirms the committee's commitment to ensure that the resources we provide to the armed forces, as well as contributions provided by our allies, are directed towards the most critical core defense requirements of our U.S. Military stationed overseas," said Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., the committee's ranking member. "In an unprecedented era of rapidly decreasing defense funds, we will continue to extend oversight to each and every taxpayer dollar spent for our national defense."

View the full report.

The total number of security clearances held by federal government employees and contractors at the end of fiscal year 2012 was 4.92 million, compared to 4.86 million in FY-11, according to a report to Congress submitted by the office of the director for national intelligence late last week.

The April 12 report states:

Although agencies are making significant progress to improve the timeliness of security clearance determinations, the ODNI will continue to stress the need for improvements in the investigative and adjudicative clearance processes. The IC faces challenges in clearing individuals with unique or critical skills -- such as highly desirable language abilities -- who often have significant foreign associations that may take additional time to investigate and adjudicate. Further, compartmentalization and variations in information technology platforms within the IC are impediments to the implementation of automated systems that have the potential to improve the timeliness of processing non-issue cases and allow security specialists to concentrate on issue cases.

A Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile successfully shot down a tactical ballistic missile target in a flight test today at White Sands Missile Range, NM, PAC-3 builder Lockheed Martin announced this morning.

"Two PAC-3 Missiles were ripple-fired in the test per current doctrine," the company statement reads. "The first interceptor destroyed the target and the second PAC-3 Missile self-destructed as planned. Mission objectives were focused on reducing risk for a flight test of the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) scheduled later this year."

Richard McDaniel, vice president of PAC-3 Missile programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said: "Today's flight test provided us the opportunity to demonstrate the PAC-3 Missile against a challenging TBM target."

Preliminary data show "all objectives were achieved," he added.

Bell Helicopter unveiled its tiltrotor helicopter design -- the V-280 Valor -- that it submitted last month to the Army's Joint Multi-Role technology demonstrator competition, according to company briefing slides released today.

Industry submitted at least four proposals to the Army for a chance to build a JMR technology demonstrator air vehicle that will guide possible designs and concepts for the service's Future Vertical Lift helicopter expected to take flight around 2035, according to company sources. Of the proposals, two designs will be selected to be built and flown during the demonstrator phase. The Army is expected to make awards in late 2013. The demonstrators would be ready for flight in 2017.

While Boeing and Sikorsky announced earlier this year that they would join forces to submit a design proposal for a JMR demonstrator aircraft centered around Sikorsky's X2 helicopter technology, Bell is taking a turn to tout its offering.

Bell's V-280 Valor features an advanced tiltrotor design that can achieve cruise speeds of 280 knots, has "turbo-like ride quality," is fuel efficient, has an advanced composite fuselage and "superior high-speed handling qualities," the slides note. The helicopter design doubles the range capability of current platforms, the document shows.

Bell and Boeing were awarded, as a team, a $4 million, 18-month study contract to look at tiltrotor designs for the JMR effort in 2011. Boeing has experience building the V-22 Osprey, a tiltrotor aircraft flown by the Marines and the Air Force. Bell was also awarded another JMR study contract independently. Sikorsky and AVX Aircraft Company were the remaining companies to receive JMR study contracts.

EADS and AVX Aircraft Co. also submitted demonstrator designs to the Army last month. So far, EADS has chosen not to discuss details of its proposed design. AVX submitted a design centered around its coaxial rotor and ducted fan technology, company spokesman Mike Cox said in February.

The Air Force has issued a stand-down order to its active-duty combat squadrons due to budget cuts that have negatively impacted Air Combat Command's operations and maintenance account, according to a service statement.

ACC's flying hours -- specifically, the training hours its airmen are allotted -- will be reduced by about 45,000 hours between now and Oct. 1, the statement indicates. Defense News reported on April 8 that the Air Force would begin grounding its combat squadrons today.

“ACC, as the Air Force's lead for Combat Air Forces, manages the flying-hour programs for four major commands,” the statement reads. “This decision to stand down or curtain operations affects about one-third of the active-duty [Combat Air Forces] aircraft -- including those assigned to fighter bomber, aggressor and airborne warning and control squadrons -- stationed in the United States, Europe and the Pacific.”

ACC commander Gen. Mike Hostage said ACC has had to implement a tiered readiness approach in which "only the units preparing to deploy in support of major operations like Afghanistan are fully mission capable.” The units will stand down “on a rotating basis” so that the Air Force's “limited resources can be focused on fulfilling critical missions.” Hostage noted that the stand-down would have a “significant and multiyear impact” on the Air Force's operational readiness.

Some of the combat squadrons, which include A-10 twin-engine planes, B-1 long-range bombers, F-16 fighter jets and F-22 fighter jets, will stand down “after they return from their deployments,” according to the statement. Other squadrons will stand down operations today, April 9. Additionally, active-duty airmen assigned to the Air Force Reserve or the Air National Guard's A-10 and F-16 squadrons will also stop flying until October, the statement adds.

The stand-down will continue throughout fiscal year 2013, “barring any changes to current levels of funding,” according to the statement.

“Units that are stood down will shift their emphasis to ground training. They will use flight simulators to the extent possible within existing contracts, and conduct academic training to maintain basic skills and knowledge of their aircraft,” the statement reads. “As funding allows, aircrews will also complete formal ground training courses, conduct non-flying exercises and improve local flying-related programs and guidance.”