Speaking at a luncheon for the National Defense 
Industrial Association Wednesday, Kenneth Krieg, the Pentagon’s chief of acquisition, technology, and logistics, asked the industry crowd how the nation will “balance” the equation of growing demand on the military vs. “challenged, if not diminished” defense resources? He believes the the balance can “only be done at the broader level of portfolio trades.” In other words, Krieg maintains, the nation must “shift its mix of capabilities and engage in a realistic debate about what it needs and what it can afford.”
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.