Defense
The Pentagon’s No. 2 official has issued a new warning to Defense Department civilians and commanders not to make any plans for automatic budget cuts that are set to take effect Jan. 2, even as Congress and the White House show no sign of halting the cuts. – Washington Times
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Thursday that he would take any deal Congress can make that would delay sequestration, the 10-year, $600 billion automatic across-the-board spending cut set to begin on January 2. – The E-Ring
The U.S. military needs to rebuild, reposition, and restructure itself so that it is able to rapidly respond to a future international security outlook that is bleak, unpredictable, and inevitably violent, according to General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. – The E-Ring
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has taken a more measured view of the ongoing negotiations between the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin for a batch of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. – Defense News
Lockheed Martin is inching closer to solving some of the technical challenges encountered with the F-35 during developmental testing. – Aviation Week
The Navy is “on a roll” when it comes to shipbuilding, but the existing fleet remains under stress, the Chief of Naval Operations said [Thursday] – AOL Defense
The War
Neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney has said much about torture as part of terrorism investigations during the 2012 general campaign. But the future of American government practices when interrogating high-level terrorism suspects appears likely to turn on the outcome of the election. – New York Times
CTBT
The U.S. State Department’s top arms control official on Wednesday urged other nations to press ahead with ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty without waiting for corresponding action by the United States. – Global Security Newswire
Missile Defense
NATO’s deputy secretary general, Ambassador Alexander Vershbow, admitted Thursday at a Security and Defence Agenda event at the European Parliament that “not much progress” had been made in terms of cooperating with Russia on missile defense. – Defense News
Cybersecurity
Uncontrolled security threats on the Internet could return much of the planet to an era without electricity or automated transportation, top U.S. and Russian experts said on Thursday. – Reuters
