Defense
The Senate’s vote to proceed with the cybersecurity legislation means the Defense authorization bill will not be taken up before the August recess, pushing back the hopeful predictions made about getting the bill on floor by the Senate Armed Services Committee leaders. – DEFCON Hill
The possibility that sequestration could lead to an additional reduction of 100,000 active-duty troops has been seized upon by a key House Republican as the newest reason why the Defense Department needs special protection from across-the-board cuts. – Military Times
A Pentagon official told Congress Thursday that the Defense Department’s civilian employees could be hit with layoff notices under sequestration ahead of the November election. – DEFCON Hill
Boeing, General Dynamics, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman have begun to break ranks with other top-tier defense firms warning that $500 billion in automatic defense cuts would hurt national security and lead to devastating job losses. – DEFCON Hill
The yearly price tag to carry out the U.S. Navy’s latest 30-year shipbuilding plan comes to about $20 billion, a new congressional report said, more than $3 billion a year above the Navy’s projections. – Defense News
On July 10, the U.S. Navy released a request for proposals for the first all-new electronic jammer in over 40 years. It’s about time since the existing ALQ-99 jammer carried on electronic-warfare planes is gradually losing the ability to keep up with joint requirements — not to mention threats. – AOL Defense
No doubt jointness will remain the official position of the military in the future, and the U.S. military will not soon lose the ability to conduct effective multi-service operations. But reduced defense budgets are likely to pit the roles, missions, and associated programs of the services against each other. The present danger is that declining defense budgets will re-stoke the inter-service budget and doctrine battles of the late 1940s. Let us hope that those battles of that era provide a cautionary note for the force planners of today. – National Review Online
The War
While the United States’ counterterror campaign against al Qaeda’s Yemen affiliate has dominated the headlines in recent months, the group’s Africa cell has quietly emerged as the groups strongest and best funded faction, according to a top U.S. general. – DEFCON Hill
Cybersecurity
The top American military official responsible for defending the United States against cyberattacks said Thursday that there had been a 17-fold increase in computer attacks on American infrastructure between 2009 and 2011, initiated by criminal gangs, hackers and other nations. – New York Times
Missile Defense
Poland and the United States remain in tight contact on the planned fielding no later than 2018 of future-generation U.S. missile interceptors in the Eastern European country, the U.S. Defense Department said on Wednesday – Global Security Newswire
