Northrop Grumman Is Getting Ready For The Next Big War

Dave Majumdar, National Interest: Northrop Grumman Is Getting Ready for Great Power War (That Means Russia or China)

With the U.S. defense budget set to expand in the coming years as the great power competition between Russia, China and the United States heats up, Northrop Grumman—like other defense contractors—is starting to invest in the future after a prolonged slump.

“We foresee just given the nature of the threat environment that we observe around the globe today and the number of dimensions in that threat environment that are evident, we foresee a period of time here in front of us, a rather significant period of time in front of us, where our nation and our allies are going to need to invest in their national security to deal with this,” Wes Bush, chairman and chief executive officer of Northrop Grumman told investors. “And those investments in many cases are going to be different types of investments and at the national level to ensure technological superiority, and we've got to get back to a place of technological superiority.”

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WNU Editor: Russia President Putin was telling Russian companies last year to be prepared for war production .... Vladimir Putin Tells Russian Defense Companies to Prepare for War (Newsweek). More here .... Russian President Putin Says All Big Russian Businesses Should Be Ready For War Production (November 22, 2017). Ditto from Chinese President Xi earlier this month .... Chinese President Xi tells his military to 'be ready for war' and 'not to fear death' as he addresses 7,000 soldiers (Daily Mail).

Should America's Defense Giants Copy The Business Models Of Tesla And SpaceX

Next Big Future: Future US Military aircraft development needs to emulate the speed and flexibility of Spacex and Tesla

The US military needs to completely rework the design and development of military aircraft and other military systems. The problems with military aircraft is particularly large because it is often not possible to retrofit advances into military jets. A jet built for stealth or hypersonic speed has to have those capabilities designed from the start.

The F35 is the poster child for bad procurement with many years of delays and cost overruns and design flaws.

Lockheed Martin and Boeing are the main builders of military aircraft for the United States but they also make rocket launch systems. Atlas is manufactured by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and The Boeing Company, formed in December 2006.

Spacex is vastly smaller company but they produce new rocket engines and new rocket designs at about ten times the speed of Lockheed and Boeing.

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WNU Editor: Something has to be done .... but I have trouble believing that companies like Lockheed Martin and The Boeing Company are capable of changing their business culture.

Concrete Is The Most Effective Weapon On The Modern Battlefield

Image credit: Spc. Kiyoshi Freeman, US Army

John Spencer, Modern War Institute: The Most Effective Weapon on the Modern Battlefield is Concrete

Ask any Iraq War veteran about Jersey, Alaska, Texas, and Colorado and you will be surprised to get stories not about states, but about concrete barriers. Many soldiers deployed to Iraq became experts in concrete during their combat tours. Concrete is as symbolic to their deployments as the weapons they carried. No other weapon or technology has done more to contribute to achieving strategic goals of providing security, protecting populations, establishing stability, and eliminating terrorist threats. This was most evident in the complex urban terrain of Baghdad, Iraq. Increasing urbanization and its consequent influence on global patterns of conflict mean that the US military is almost certain to be fighting in cities again in our future wars. Military planners would be derelict in their duty if they allowed the hard-won lessons about concrete learned on Baghdad’s streets to be forgotten.

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WNU Editor: I never knew.

Should Defense Contractors Be Hit With An Excess-Profits Tax?

Excess-Profits Tax On Defense Contractors During Wartime Is Long Overdue -- Washington Post

No one can safely predict what will happen in 2013, but here are a few things I would like to see occur when it comes to national security.

My most radical idea — and it should have been done 10 years ago — is for an excess-profits tax on defense contractors while we have troops fighting overseas. As I have often noted, Afghanistan and Iraq are the first U.S. wars in which taxes were not raised to pay for the fighting. Instead, the cost has been put on a credit card.

In World Wars I and II and the Korean War, Congress approved new taxes, including one directed at defense contractors. In introducing his request in 1940 for a “steeply graduated excess-profits tax,” President Franklin D. Roosevelt said the government should make sure that “a few do not gain from the sacrifices of many.”

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My Comment: I have always believed that America's defense industries are in sore need of some competition .... but because of the 'boom and bust' nature of the industry .... I must concede that my hopes for competition are (probably) a fantasy in view of the simple fact that only the majors can survive in such a business environment. Bottom line .... if the U.S. wants to remain a superpower it will need to pay the bill. Putting an excess-profits tax on defense contractors will only insure more companies bailing out of the defense industry and creating even lesser competition .... hence more costs and (what is worse) being limited to only one or two sources for your supplies and equipment.

The Gathering Storm In The U.S. Defense Establishment

The Gathering Storm -- Philip Ewing, DoD Buzz

“This may have been the week in which the full implications of today’s defense situation finally sunk in.”

So wrote your correspondent back in February, when the normal cadences of the congressional-Pentagon relationship were jangled by new budget uncertainty and the creeping sense of political isolation.

“I don’t sense a commitment from everyone here on the Hill” about undoing sequestration, Missouri Rep. Todd Akin said back then. Still, people looked ahead to the wide open 2012 calendar sprawling before them and thought, ah, we’ve got plenty of time to take care of this.

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My Comment: I agree with this analysis. The U.S. defense establishment is going to go through some rough patches if sequestration goes through .... which appears to be the case right now.

Is War Fatigue Driving European Defense Cuts

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

France's Afghanistan Pull-Out Signals War Fatigue Driving European Defense Cuts -- Christian Science Monitor

Disillusionment with warfare, coupled with economic troubles, has given European defense cuts strong momentum. But defense experts worry they are being made too haphazardly.

On a visit to Afghanistan today, newly inaugurated French President François Hollande reiterated his commitment to a full withdrawal of French combat troops by year’s end, well ahead of NATO’s 2014 withdrawal.

France’s decision highlights the high level of so-called "intervention fatigue” among NATO’s European members as the decade-old Afghanistan conflict winds down and they face the need to make drastic budget cuts to remain solvent.

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My Comment: On a global level .... one can make the argument that Europe is a major defense/military spender .... and that argument would be right. But .... while the rest of the globe is expanding their military expenditures .... Europe has made the decision to go the other way. Is this a wise decision in view of how much turmoil is occurring near it's borders ..... I would have to say no. But Europe has a bigger problem .... and that is the euro and debt crisis is forcing European governments to implement some hard decisions .... and defense cuts is one of them. So while war fatigue is playing a part in defense cuts .... a bigger reason is debt and no extra money in the treasury .... a harsh reality for the Europe of today.

The Pentagon Is Predicting A Perfect Budget Storm

Pentagon Forecast: The Perfect Storm -- Jed Babbin, American Spectator

Sequestration, scheduled for January 2013, is already shutting down America's defenses.

Over the North Atlantic in 1991, several rare meteorological events occurred simultaneously combining, as Sebastian Junger wrote, into "The Perfect Storm" of massive destructive power. Next January a series of bad congressional actions -- and some awful Pentagon decisions on weapon systems -- may combine with the deteriorating outlook for the defense industry to create a perfect storm for the Pentagon. If that storm hits, it will have an enormously destructive effect on America's ability to defend itself for a generation.

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My Comment: Another sobering view on the mess that is know as the Pentagon budget. But as bad as this is .... should President Obama earn a second term .... I am predicting that there will be even more cuts and defense program terminations .... in short .... the cuts that are being talked about today will be in pittance to what we may be discussing 2 or 3 years from now.

More Defense Cuts Are Coming

President Barack Obama briefs the press on a new defense strategy as Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, prepare to offer remarks at the Pentagon, Jan. 5, 2012. Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, members of the Joint Chiefs and service secretaries participated in the briefing. DOD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo

Defense Cuts Could Be Only The Beginning -- Todd Harrison, CNN

(CNN) -- President Obama unveiled the Pentagon's new defense strategy last week, calling it a moment to "turn the page" on the past decade of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The new strategy places a greater emphasis on Asia and reduces ground forces in favor of air and sea forces. It accepts greater risks in some areas -- most notably in abandoning the policy that the United States must be able to fight two major, protracted ground wars at once. The Pentagon argues that a two-war construct does not do justice to the complexity of the current threat environment. It has to be able to adapt to a wide, complex array of global threats rather than prepare for an arbitrary number of simultaneous wars.

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My Comment: I concur .... we have seen nothing yet. But even with all of these cuts, the US budget deficit (because of entitlements) will still run north of $1 trillion .... a situation that will all but guarantee even deeper cuts in the future.

Can The U.S. Be A Superpower AND A Welfare State? (A Commentary)

The Gates Farewell Warning -- Wall Street Journal

America can be a superpower or a welfare state, but not both.

Robert Gates, who steps down next month after four-plus years at the Pentagon, is making his retirement lap a tutorial on America's defense spending and security needs. His message is welcome, especially on Memorial Day, and even if he couldn't always heed it in his time as Secretary of Defense.

In a series of farewell speeches, Mr. Gates has warned against cuts to weapon programs and troop levels that would make America vulnerable in "a complex and unpredictable security environment," as he said Sunday at Notre Dame. On Tuesday at the American Enterprise Institute, Mr. Gates noted that the U.S. went on "a procurement holiday" in the 1990s, when the Clinton Administration decided to cash in the Cold War peace dividend. The past decade showed that history (and war) didn't end in 1989.

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My Comment: If history is any indication, politicians are more interested in buying votes with government monies rather than spending it on U.S. defense programs and operations. America cannot be a superpower AND a welfare state at the same time .... a balancing act that is right now failing as trillion dollar deficits become the norm rather than the exception for the U.S. Treasury. What is my prediction .... the trend is now towards a welfare state .... a goal that in itself will fail as those who contribute to such a system (through their tax dollars) will eventually rebel and refuse to contribute to a system that they will now perceive as unfair.

The Tanker Saga, Continued -- A Commentary

From The New York Times:

Trying to recover from past mistakes, the Pentagon has initiated a third competition for a new Air Force midair refueling tanker. After two bungled attempts, defense officials, contractors and Congress really need to get it right this time.

President Obama and his administration have pledged to reform the way the Pentagon buys billions of dollars worth of weapons, and the tanker program will be their biggest test. The initial purchase is $35 billion for 179 planes, but the contract could be extended for decades and eventually cost $100 billion for 400 or 500 planes — making it one of the most expensive deals in the Pentagon’s history.

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My Comment: Is 3rd time a charm .... we are going to find out.

President Obama's National Security And Defense Teams -- A Commentary

Private meeting ... Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.
Photo: AP/Sydney Morning Herald

Obama's War Cabinet -- Wall Street Journal

Gates and Jones are welcome signs of continuity.

The names floated for Barack Obama's national security team "are drawn exclusively from conservative, centrist and pro-military circles without even a single -- yes, not one! -- chosen to represent the antiwar wing of the Democratic party." In his plaintive post this week on the Nation magazine's Web site, Robert Dreyfuss indulges in the political left's wonderful talent for overstatement. But who are we to interfere with his despair?

If reports are correct, on Monday the President-elect will ask Robert Gates to stay on as Secretary of Defense and name retired Marine General James Jones as National Security Adviser. These are the Administration posts most critical to the successful conduct of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to possible entanglements with Iran, North Korea and who knows who else. With these personnel picks, Mr. Obama reveals a bias for competence, experience and continuity. Hence the caterwauls from his left flank.

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