Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- July 7, 2014

The cruiser Mobile Bay handles air defense for the aircraft carrier John C. Stennis. The Navy has no clear answer on what type of ship will escort deployed carriers when the current cruisers leave the fleet. (MC3 Stephanie Smith / Navy)

US Navy's Cruiser Problem -- Defense News

Service Struggles Over Modernization, Replacements

WASHINGTON — The US Navy and Congress are in a sort of faceoff over the fleet’s cruiser force. To extend their service lives, the Navy is asking to take half its cruisers — CGs in Navy-speak — out of service now and gradually bring them back starting in 2019. Congress, fearful that Pentagon budget-cutters will instead decide to cut costs and reduce the force, is insisting the ships be modernized now and kept running.

A level of discomfort — if not outright distrust — has been created as the service changed its original 2012 request to decommission seven cruisers under a spending reduction strategy to one where the Navy wants to keep them, but temporarily inactivate 11 its 22 Ticonderoga-class CGs under a modernization plan. Many on the Hill suspect that behind the rhetoric, there lurks a desire to save money by killing the ships.

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Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- July 7, 2014

Navy Requests Modernization of 11 Cruisers; Thomas Rowden Comments -- Executive Gov

Ukraine Military Finds Its Footing Against Pro-Russian Rebel -- New York Times

Russia Sells $5.6Bln in Arms in First Half of 2014 – Putin -- RIA Novosti

Private military contractors to fall under Defense Ministry purview – Draft Duma bill -- RT

Maneuver Force of Russian Black Sea Fleet Successfully Destroyed Simulated Enemy Warships -- Ria Novosti

Anatoly Kornukov, Who Led Russian Air Force, Dies at 72 -- NYT

China military bases threatened by luxury villas, fake tourists -- Reuters

China gives rare glimpse at naval ships -- AP

China's torpedoes were born from Russia: Russian analyst -- Want China Times

Deputy FM Denies Iranian Supply of Sukhoi Fighters to Iraq -- Fars News Agency

Iran pilot killed fighting in Iraq -- Arab News/Reuters

Japan gearing up for first military export deal in decades – report -- RT

Evolution, not revolution, for Japan’s military posture -- Corey Wallace, East Asia Forum

North Korea’s outdated equipment leading to accidents -- Korea Joong Ang Daily

Military Helicopter Crashes in Vietnam, Killing 16 -- VOA

Canadian Military Suicides: Analysis Aims To Find Cause Of Crisis -- Canadian Press

Britain Frets Over Cost of Restoring Carriers to Royal Navy -- WSJ

Carrier-Strike Capability Returning To U.K. -- Aviation Week

US military Africa chief: Chaos in Libya is destabilizing the region -- Asharq Al-Awsat

Pentagon denies ‘mission creep’ in Iraq -- Stars and Stripes

Mitsubishi Electric eyes F-35 missile deal with Europe's MBDA: sources -- Reuters

Global Competition Opens For F-35 Sustainment Deals -- Defense News

The F-35 Strike Fighter. Technical Failures of the World’s Most Expensive Weapons System -- Global Research

Navy to add Triton to unmanned aircraft fleet in Guam -- Stars and Stripes

Security fears loom over CIA report -- The Hill

Overhauling an aircraft carrier: a complex challenge -- Daily Press

Active U.S. force is 19,000 soldiers smaller than a year ago -- Army Times

Report outlines contingency plans for Pentagon spending; Lockheed beefs up ground systems tech with acquisition -- Washington post

That Time an Air Force F-16 and an Army Missile Battery Fought Each Other -- David Axe, War Is Boring

Pentagon Fast-Tracking 'Iron Man' Body Armor -- Newsmax

The drone warfare drawbacks -- Doyle McManus, L.A. Times

The Marines Are Looking For A Few Good (Combat-Ready) Women -- NPR

'Nobody was that crazy': Documents show soldiers called Robert Bales 'paranoid' well before killings -- Stars and Stripes/The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.)

Ventura must show SEAL sniper Kyle disregarded truth in book -- Stars and Stripes

Poland's overlooked Enigma codebreakers -- Gordon Corera, BBC