EUCOM Needs More Capacity to Deal with Russian Threat

A proper response to Russian aggression in Europe “requires us to have more capacity,” Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, commander of US European Command and NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday. “I don’t have the...

No Room for Big Bucks

Don’t expect huge increases in defense spending, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Wednesday. “There are two numbers,” Smith said. The $603 billion figure is the President’s recommended spending level, and the $640...

F-35 Price Target: $80 Million

Though F-35 program officials have been talking about hitting a then-year unit cost of $85 million by 2019, the new goal is $80 million by 2020—and that may not be the bottom, said Program Executive Officer Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan....

Methinks You Protest Too Much

Even though the number of protests sustained against Air Force contract awards is “pretty low,” the service wants contractors to think more than twice about lodging a protest unless they’ve got a real good reason. “I want them to have...

Mod Squad

More than 200 F-35s have been delivered, and after 15 years of production, the new fighter actually suffers from “vanishing vendor syndrome,” program executive officer Christopher Bogdan told attendees at a McAleese/Credit Suisse conference in Washington on Wednesday. Some of...

How Trump Was Sold on the F-35

How did the F-35 program turn around the opinion of President Donald Trump, who before his inauguration said the program was too expensive and “out of control” but recently has spoken of it favorably? “What I think came out” of...

Russia’s Snap Exercises Raise Specter of Accidental War

Russia has continually sought to intimidate NATO through its deceptive practice of snap exercises, Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, commander of US European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday. These military exercises are “broadcast...