01/03/2012 by Richard Weitz On December 29, the Obama administration announced that the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have finalized the deal to provide advanced F-15SA combat aircraft to the Royal Saudi Air Force. The sale has gained widespread support within the U.S. defense community and will…
12/24/2011 by Ed Timperlake Aerospace Daily has just reported breaking news that the GAO dismissed a bid protest by Hawker Beechcraft on their submission of the AT-6 for the light air support aircraft program--known as the LAS acquisition. This GAO finding is a tribute to the USAF LAS Acquisition Team ---a Navy…
12/23/2011 by Richard Weitz Recently, Vice President Joe Biden made his seventh visit to Iraq as vice president and 16th visit overall. Biden spent two days in Baghdad meeting with Iraqi political leaders, then he travelled to Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan Regional Government, to meet with President Massoud Barzani.…
[caption id="attachment_12920" align="alignleft" width="150" caption=" "][/caption] By Dr. Richard Weitz 12/14/2011 - Recent Russian elections have identified several weaknesses in Russia’s political system, but not the means solve them. Russia is experiencing its own unexpected Arab Spring, though the system should survive and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is likely to…
[caption id="attachment_12920" align="alignleft" width="150" caption=" "][/caption] By Dr. Richard Weitz 12/22/2011 - In addition to the immediate causes of the November 26 incident, there are deeper reasons for the elevated levels of tension that have degraded Pakistani-U.S. relations during the past few years. The two countries have regularly been allies…
12/09/2011 In late November, Second Line of Defense continued the dialogue with Professor Mark Lewis, former Chief Scientist of the USAF, on the emerging opportunities and challenges facing the country in fielding 21st Century capabilities. Here the focus was upon the need to shape a weapons enterprise built around 5th generation…
12/19/2011 by Richard Weitz After India obtaining statehood in 1947, the nonalignment doctrine championed by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru disallowed India from entering any alliance or bloc. Instead, India pursued had a unique policy that combined pragmatism with nonalignment. This nonalignment policy allowed India to work with the Soviet…
12/21/2011 - Secretary Wynne was a key policy player fostering the Rover revolution. Rover as we discuss in a companion piece is part of a cultural revolution whereby the ground and air forces can operate differently than ever before. First, the downlink of video to the ground and the audio…
