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The British Prime Minister has launched his Strategic Defence Review at a shipyard in Scotland on Monday, promising cash for new nuclear warheads, new attack submarines, and a building programme for new munitions factories. The United Kingdom, which presently spends 2.3 per cent of its GDP on defence, will boost that to 2.5 per cent by 2027 and 3 per cent by some time in the 2030s, the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said on Monday morning. The announcement was criticised from both sides, on one hand for three per cent of national output on defence being woefully low for...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the Pentagon will cut its operational test and evaluation organization in half and appoint an interim director to better align the armed forces with an America First strategy. In a Wednesday memo, Mr. Hegseth explains that an internal review of the Pentagon’s Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation found that cuts to the division would improve the military’s “lethality, readiness and efficiency.” “A comprehensive internal review has identified redundant, nonessential, nonstatutory functions within ODOT&E that do not support operational agility or resource efficiency, affecting our ability to rapidly and effectively deploy...

Deputy Secretary Steve Feinberg's directive launches one of the most ambitious efforts in decades to modernize how the Department is organized and operates. This is about more than efficiency — it's about designing a workforce and structure that move at the speed of today's challenges. We're taking a clear-eyed look across the Department to ensure every role, every office, and every layer of management is aligned to what the mission demands right now: speed, precision, and operational impact. By streamlining structures and focusing roles where they have the greatest impact, we are empowering our civilian professionals to contribute even more...

As a podcaster and freelance journalist, Ole Nymoen admits he enjoys freedom of expression and other democratic rights in his home country of Germany. But he would not want to die for them. In a book published this week, Why I Would Never Fight for My Country, the 27-year-old argues ordinary people should not be sent into battle on behalf of nation states and their rulers — even to fend off an invasion. Occupation by a foreign power might lead to a “sh*tty” life, he told the Financial Times. “But I’d rather be occupied than dead.” Nymoen, a self-described Marxist,...

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German army's battle-readiness is less than when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, military officials, lawmakers and defence experts told Reuters.Even if a new government boosts defence spending, it will remain hamstrung for years, particularly by a lack of air defence, artillery and soldiers, they said."Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, we had eight brigades at around 65% readiness," Colonel Andre Wuestner, head of the German Armed Forces Association, told Reuters in an interview. Sending weapons, ammunition and equipment to Ukraine, as well as accelerating Germany's own drills, took a toll on the available equipment, he said."Together, this...

The U.S. nuclear triad must be modernized to keep pace with changing threats in the future, the nation’s senior officer in charge of strategic forces said on Tuesday. Air Force Gen. Anthony Cotton, speaking at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event, added “for the United States nuclear deterrence is baseline strategy” stopping adversaries from crossing thresholds because they know American capability to respond. China, being a nuclear power and rapidly expanding its arsenal, changes the strategic equation from the Cold War with the Soviet Union, he said. Where there was little economic interaction between Moscow and Washington in...

(The Center Square) – Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts in the United States military are ineffective, a new Arizona State University study suggests. The study done by the university’s Center for American Institutions argued that there is an emphasis on training new soldiers about social issues like “unconscious bias” and “intersectionality” in a way the center says runs contrary to typical American ideals. The study examined DEI plans in different sectors of the military, including DEI office staffing and education at academies like West Point. “The massive DEI bureaucracy, its training and its pseudo-scientific assessments are at best distractions that...

Just in the last two days we have reported on major issues with the U.S. military, ranging from delays in every major Navy shipbuilding program, U.S. Navy Facing Major Shipbuilding Delays While China’s Navy Expansion Accelerates, to problems with military recruiting: Army Invites Retirees as Old as 70 to Return to Active Duty in Attempt to Fix Recruiting Woes. And this is just the tip of the iceberg, and all of you are likely well aware of the deteriorating state of our military under Joe Biden. But through all this, and the other foibles of today’s DEI/CRT-centric military, we always...

After months of study, the Air Force may (or may not) be on the verge of a major restructuring. While a shakeup has yet to be confirmed — much less the details of the plan — in this op-ed nuclear policy experts Adam Lowther and Curtis McGiffin examine one road that they say Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall should definitely not follow. During the Space Force Association’s annual conference in mid-December, Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein, the commander of Space Systems Command, raised eyebrows when he said, “The Air Force is going to get rid of the major command structure.” He...

Students are the least prepared for college than they’ve been in three decades, according to the nonprofit organization that administers the ACT. The organization found more than 4 in 10 high school seniors hit none of the college readiness benchmarks, saying this is “historic highs in 2023.” The decline marks a 32-year low for high school seniors’ scores on the test, with results like this last seen in 1991.

A Department of Defense assessment of locations proposed to build offshore wind farms on the Atlantic coast found several areas to be “highly problematic” due to their proximity to U.S. military training sites, Bloomberg reported on Monday, publishing a Pentagon map of the areas in question. A Pentagon spokesperson confirmed to Fox News on the same day that the warnings published by Bloomberg were an authentic assessment of proposed areas for offshore wind development, stating that the Defense Department would “continue to work” with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), responsible for greenlighting the offshore wind deals, to find...

Thursday, US intelligence officials leaked a classified assessment about the performance of Russian precision-guided munitions in the Ukraine invasion. The United States assesses that Russia is suffering failure rates as high as 60% for some of the precision-guided missiles it is using to attack Ukraine, three U.S. officials with knowledge of the intelligence told Reuters. The disclosure could help explain why Russia has failed to achieve what most could consider basic objectives since its invasion a month ago, such as neutralizing Ukraine’s air force, despite the apparent strength of its military against Ukraine’s much smaller armed forces. The U.S. officials,...

Oh, the reports just keep filtering in; little bits and pieces of incompetence, bad leadership, cowardice, a myriad of bolos and buffoons; ships running aground, ships on fire, being chased off in the Sea of Oman by the Iranians in Babe Winkelman’s bass boat, submariners and their Marxist wives selling secrets, Marines losing on their own turf last week… Isn’t wokeness fun? Thanks to the left and cowardly senior leaders, the US armed forces have become the Benny Hill Show with high explosives. In today’s military, everything is readiness except actual readiness. Readiness defined as training for war every day,...

A new video from the United States Navy only runs for a little over two minutes, and ends with two words. Nevertheless, it is a powerful video that hints at the modern challenges our Navy faces, and the professionalism with which our sailors rise to the occasion. The video was released Monday on the Navy’s official Twitter account. In a post accompanying the clip, the Navy wrote: “24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Your [Navy] is on watch and ready around the world.” Click the pic below to go to the Navy twitter feed......

Note: This story has been updated with comments from the U.S. Navy. The captain of a nuclear aircraft carrier with more than 100 sailors infected with the coronavirus pleaded Monday with U.S. Navy officials for resources to allow isolation of his entire crew and avoid possible deaths in a situation he described as quickly deteriorating. The unusual plea from Capt. Brett Crozier, a Santa Rosa native, came in a letter obtained exclusively by The Chronicle and confirmed by a senior officer on board the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, which has been docked in Guam following a COVID-19 outbreak among the...

I wanted you all to see this & get your input. Is this just a normal routine notice being updated to 10/3/19? What is the significance of it, is it anything beyond or out of the ordinary given timing and current events? MANPOWER GUIDANCE FOR ACTIVATION AND DEACTIVATION OF RESERVE COMPONENT MARINES ORDERED TO ACTIVE DUTY ISO DEFENSE SUPPORT OF CIVIL AUTHORITIES To: All CONFIRMED: US MARINEShttps://www.marines.mil/News/Messages/Messages-Display/Article/1979422/manpower-guidance-for-activation-and-deactivation-of-reserve-component-rc-marin?fbclid=IwAR1n-hMYe6OG0-v5tBXo51Df0R1urqghRmv-SLDDSI3JgWXJlg-SIfezZ-0MANPOWER GUIDANCE FOR ACTIVATION AND DEACTIVATION OF RESERVE COMPONENT MARINES ORDERED TO ACTIVE DUTY ISO DEFENSE SUPPORT OF CIVIL AUTHORITIES Date Signed: 10/3/2019 | MARADMINS Number: 550/19R 031419Z OCT 19 MARADMIN 550/19 MSGID/GENADMIN/CMC WASHINGTON...

Australian Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds, Japanese Minister of Defense Takeshi Iwaya, and U.S.Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, convened a trilateral defense ministerial meeting in Singapore on June 1 on the margins of the 18th International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Asia Security Summit (2019 Shangri-La Dialogue). The ministers were united in their shared commitment to do more together in support of security, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. This was the eighth meeting among the three nations’ defense leaders. Minister Iwaya and Acting Secretary Shanahan congratulated Minister Reynolds on her appointment to Minister for Defence following Australia’s...

The defense ministers of Australia, Japan and the United States affirm their countries’ alignment in strategic interests and universal principles, including a commitment to democracy, human rights, free trade, and the rules-based international order. Together, the three countries recognize the importance of enhancing engagement with our Indo-Pacific partners, in order to foster regional prosperity, resilience and transparency in a time of geostrategic change. The trilateral relationship complements the strong and effective bilateral defense relationships between each of the three countries, and enables us to pool our resources in support of peace, security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. The three...

Readout of Meeting Between Vietnam Minister of National Defense Ngo Xuan Lich and Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan Secretary of Defense Spokesperson LTC Dave Eastburn provided the following readout: Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan met today with Vietnam Minister of National Defense Ngo Xuan Lich on the margins of the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. The two leaders reaffirmed the comprehensive partnership between the United States and Vietnam and highlighted historic progress in the bilateral defense relationship. They agreed to continue building practical defense cooperation, particularly in the area of maritime security, and underscored the importance of close...

Readout of Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan's Meeting With Thailand Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Prawit Wongsuwon Secretary of Defense Spokesperson LTC Dave Eastburn provided the following readout: Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan met today with Thailand Minister of Defense Prawit Wongsuwon on the margins of the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. The two leaders reaffirmed the enduring alliance between the United States and Thailand. They reviewed the state of bilateral security cooperation, with a focus on shared priority areas of maritime security, defense and military exchanges, and modernization of the Royal Thai Armed Forces. They...