Defense
Defense Department officials are quick to say the formal process of selecting U.S. military bases for closure will not begin until Congress says so. But people inside the Pentagon already are talking about candidates for the politically charged process that often triggers intense opposition from governors, mayors and local business leaders. – Washington Times
The Pentagon on Thursday announced that a change in policy allowing female troops to serve in ground combat units below the brigade level will take effect May 14. – Washington Times
House Republicans are hammering out the details on a spending plan that would open the door to financing weapons systems that could be used in a potential conflict with Iran. – DEFCON Hill
U.S. House lawmakers frustrated by Air Force and Army decisions to cancel weapons in the 2013 budget have taken the first steps toward reinstating funding for those programs. – Defense News
The odds keep getting better that the Navy will get two Virginia-class nuclear attack submarines in 2014 instead of one, with senators of both parties chiming in this morning to support yesterday’s pro-sub action by the House, and the Navy’s top acquisition official pointedly did not say no. – AOL Defense
Defense lawmakers in the House have blocked a move by the Navy to retire several warships from the fleet before they are due, according to their version of the fiscal 2013 defense bill. – DEFCON Hill
In an otherwise pro-forma meeting to approve legislative language for the 2013 national defense authorization, the Seapower panel of the House Armed Services Committee paused to add just one amendment to the otherwise unmodified bill: a provision by California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter demanding that the Navy ‘fess up to Congress on problems with its Littoral Combat Ship. – AOL Defense
The House Armed Services Committee is not including two new rounds of base closures that were requested by the Pentagon in its Defense authorization bill, making the proposal all but dead in Congress this year. – DEFCON Hill
A key panel of the House Armed Services Committee has drafted legislation that would require the Defense Department to ensure its future bomber has a nuclear-weapons capability immediately upon fielding – Global Security Newswire
The Defense Department’s new espionage unit is so secret, even the leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee weren’t told about it. – The Cable
While we do not need 600 ships today, no naval experts believe a 300-ship Navy is large enough to guarantee freedom of the seas for American and allied trade, for supporting threatened allies, for deterring rogue states like Iran from closing vital straits, and for maintaining stability in areas like the western Pacific. For example, the bipartisan Quadrennial Defense Review Independent Panel led by Stephen Hadley and William Perry last year concluded that the Navy should have at least 346 vessels. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Missile Defense
When the U.S. House Armed Services Committee meets next month to debate the 2013 defense authorization bill, expect a robust discussion over missile defense and nuclear weapons. – Defense News
The House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee is placing a high priority on Boeing’s Ground-based Midcourse Defense system (GMD) — recommending the addition of more than $300 million to the program over what President Barack Obama requested in the fiscal 2013 budget proposal. – Aviation Week
Two prominent Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Wednesday proposed that the military explore establishing silo-based missile interceptors somewhere on the East Coast, Reuters reported – Global Security Newswire
The War
No credible information has emerged that terrorist networks are plotting an attack to coincide with the first anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s death, the White House said Thursday. – DEFCON Hill
A nearly three-year-long investigation by Senate Intelligence Committee Democrats is expected to find there is little evidence the harsh “enhanced interrogation techniques” the CIA used on high-value prisoners produced counter-terrorism breakthroughs. – Reuters
The refusal of the United States to take in even one Uighur darkens an already sorry chapter in this country’s history. – Washington Post
Predictions of al Qaeda’s imminent demise are rooted more in wishful thinking and politicians’ desire for applause lines than in rigorous analysis. Al Qaeda’s broader network isn’t even down — don’t think it’s about to be knocked out. – Foreign Policy
Cybersecurity
A secure communications channel set up to prevent misunderstandings that might lead to nuclear war is likely to expand to handling new kinds of conflict — in cyberspace. – Washington Post
The House voted to approve cybersecurity legislation late on Thursday, defying a civil-liberties backlash and a White House veto threat. – National Journal
NATO
More than two decades after an independent Macedonia was born from the bloody ethnic wars in the Balkans, its desire to join NATO remains stalled by an old question: “What’s in a name?” – NYT’s At War
NATO will push at its May summit for members to keep up their commitments to international security in spite of hard economic times, its secretary general said April 26. – AFP
