The Pentagon will ask Congress to approve about $79.5 billion for combat operations, the least since 2005, as U.S. troops withdraw from Afghanistan, according to administration officials. – Bloomberg
44 on Thursday ruled out unilateral U.S. military action in Syria even if proof emerges that Syrian forces have used lethal chemical weapons. – Los Angeles Times
The Pentagon has cyberattack capabilities that allow the U.S. military to help blind Syrian air defenses without firing a shot, according to military analysts. – USA Today
An end to the slaughter in Syria is greatly to be desired. But unless the US and its allies can gain some negotiating leverage by giving serious backing to moderate forces in the opposition – something which is becoming nearly impossible the longer the US delays – even an imperfect peace will remain out of reach. – AEI’s Ideas
Faced with a new budget reality, industry and the Pentagon are looking for ways to streamline contracting and pursue new innovations, a panel of CEOs said [yesterday] – Defense News
Precisely because the president’s budget request is largely overtaken by events, Congress has a historic opportunity to reassert its role defining Pentagon programs, [Rep. Randy] Forbes told me in an interview in his Capitol Hill office this morning. – Breaking Defense
Rear. Adm. Richard Breckenridge…states simply and clearly that unnamed people who believe that patrol records for the nuclear fleet show we can make deep cuts to the number of nuclear boats afloat are wrong. – Breaking Defense
Maybe she’s lost that loving feeling, but Christine Fox, head of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s much-anticipated strategic review and the Pentagon’s top “costing” official, is leaving her post next month, the E-Ring has learned. – The E-Ring
Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio) on Thursday blamed the Obama administration for failing to come up with an answer to the sequester, which he said is forcing people at a major Air Force base to work in buildings with no lights on. – The Hill’s Floor Action Blog
Adm. Jonathan Greenert (USN) and Gen. Mark Welsh (USAF) write: Through our combined efforts, Air-Sea Battle will assure continued U.S. freedom of action and with it our ability to deter aggression, maintain regional stability, dampen crisis, and assure our allies and partners. – Foreign Policy
The War
A senior Defense Department official said Thursday that the Pentagon sees no need to change the broad congressional authorization under which the military conducts lethal drone strikes against terrorist targets and estimated the war with al-Qaeda could continue for up to two decades. – Washington Post
An investigation of the Justice Department’s witness protection program uncovered glaring security problems that allowed terrorists who had been given new identities after cooperating with U.S. prosecutors to board commercial flights in the United States. – Washington Post
A purported new issue of an English-language al Qaeda magazine linked to the Boston terrorist attacks was posted on an al Qaeda web forum earlier this week, but its content beyond its cover page was scrambled, suggesting the possibility the forum was hacked by Western intelligence agencies. – CNN’s Security Clearance
Lawmakers claim the administration’s wide-ranging authority to target terror groups worldwide gives the White House a legal loophole to wage war without congressional consent. – DEFCON Hill
Missile Defense
After failing its first test back in 2011, the Raytheon-built SM-3 Block IB missile looks like it’s back on track, with yesterday marking the third successful test in a row, each against increasingly difficult targets launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kauai island in Hawaii. – Breaking Defense
44 has reportedly proposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin that their two governments work toward a formal accord on sharing antimissile data, ITAR-Tass reported on Wednesday. – Global Security Newswire
Nonproliferation
A half-dozen former U.S. national security leaders last month implored 44 to avoid tightening restrictions on foreign nuclear cooperation in the interest of nonproliferation. – Global Security Newswire
Intelligence
Effective spycraft has long called for cover—a job, family or routine that would keep a government agent from drawing undue attention. Now, that calculation extends to spies’ use of social media. – Wall Street Journal
Disclosure of a highly classified intelligence operation in Yemen last year compromised an exceedingly rare and valuable espionage achievement: an informant who had earned the trust of hardened terrorists, according to U.S. officials. – Los Angeles Times
Foreign Armies East
As China commissioned its first-ever aircraft carrier aviation unit, Asia’s other rising power, India, gave its carrier aviators a serious equipment upgrade with the introduction of 16 brand-new Russian-made MiG-29K and four MiG-29KUB carrier-borne fighters earlier this week. – Foreign Policy’s Killer Apps
Russia has shipped advanced antiship cruise missiles to Syria, a move that illustrates the depth of its support for the Syrian government led by President Bashar al-Assad, American officials said Thursday. – New York Times








