Defense
Not everyone in Washington is so desperate to avoid sequestration. A handful of Senate conservatives have been gaming out ways to block a deal, if they consider it a bad one — even if it means letting billions in across-the-board cuts go through, according to GOP sources on Capitol Hill. – Politico
Four Aegis missile cruisers scheduled to end their active careers in March will instead be kept in service, the U.S. Navy said Sept. 26. – Defense News
Come spring, U.S. soldiers from the Army’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, will begin deploying to parts of Africa under a pilot test with U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). – Defense News
For all the senatorial furor over Chinese counterfeit parts making their way into US weapons, the Pentagon is worried about something worse. Corrupt subcontractors selling knock-off products at brand-name prices is much easier to cope with than foreign governments covertly altering those components to grant themselves a back door into American systems. – AOL Defense
Nuclear Weapons
Securing billions of dollars to modernize the U.S. nuclear arms fleet will be challenging as Washington wrestles with its shabby finances, a senior State Department official said Sept. 26. – Defense News
A Reconstruction-era law limiting the powers of the armed forces on U.S. soil is one of several obstacles that could complicate Representative Mike Turner’s efforts to militarize security at nuclear weapons production sites, skeptics say. – Global Security Newswire
Cybersecurity
The chorus of official voices speaking publicly about American cyberattack strategy and capabilities is steadily growing, and some experts say greater openness will allow the United States to stake out legal and ethical rules in the uncharted territory of computer combat. Others fear that talking too boldly about American plans could fuel a global computer arms race. – New York Times
The United States is “losing the cyber espionage war” against China, Russia and other countries, but even in the face of such a grave threat the country cannot agree on how to protect its precious intellectual seed capital from these predations, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee says. – AOL Defense
The War
Radical you know what cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri has won a delay in his extradition from Britain to the United States, days after he lost an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. – Reuters
