Airpower as a Lynchpin for a 21st Century Pacific Strategy

09/23/2012
2012-09-23 by Lt. General (Retired) Deptula Change is constant in the Air Force, and that change needs to be embraced, because out of change comes adaptability to meet the challenges of the times.  A strategic reality that affects the US military in the Pacific, is something that you all have…

“Iran is Not on the Path to Nuclear Arms”: The View from Moscow on Nuclear Disarmament

09/23/2012
2012-09-23 by Richard Weitz Given the statements of the Russian speakers at the 2012 Moscow Nonproliferation Conference, Moscow is laying down some tough if often understandable conditions for making further progress in nuclear arms control. Thanks to the Carnegie Corporation in New York, I had the opportunity to attend and…

Two Aerospace Eras Cross: The F-35, the Space Shuttle And Software Code

09/23/2012
September 21, 2012. Mounted atop its 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), space shuttle Endeavour launched from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., today, to complete the final leg of its ferry flight to the California Science Center in Los Angeles. Lockheed Martin photographers captured this image as it taxied by an…

A Bright Civil Nuclear Future: The View from Moscow

09/22/2012
2012-09-22 by Richard Weitz At the 2012 Moscow Nonproliferation Conference, organized by the Center for Energy and Security Studies (CENESS),Nikolai Spassky, Deputy Director-General of the State Corporation on Atomic Energy ‘Rosatom’, enlightened us attendees as to the civil nuclear energy plans of the Russian Federation. Although Spassy was perhaps too…

The Japanese Approach to Defense Procurement

09/20/2012
2012-09-20 By Richard Weitz Japan’s defense procurement policy maintains a desire for autonomy, corporate nurturing, and technology diffusion. Although it is somewhat more open to arms exports and collaborating with foreign companies than in the past, defense procurement still suffers from two grave defects. First, the high degree of protectionism…

The CNN Policy Model: The Middle East in Upheaval

09/19/2012
2012-09-19 by Robbin Laird Instead of flying into buildings, Muslim extremists are killing American representatives abroad. In a vote of thanks for ending the Gaddafi repression, the American ambassador to Libya has been humiliated and killed. In an act reminiscent of the Nazis burning down the Reichstag and blaming various…

The Coming of an Airbus Plant to Mobile Alabama

09/18/2012
2012-09-18 by George Talbot For Mobile, Ala., the announcement on July 2, 2012 that the city would be the site of a $600 million, 1,000-worker assembly plant for Airbus aircraft seemed to prove the point that persistence pays off. The city in 2011 lost its bid to become the assembly…