Defense
Iranian warplanes fired at an unmanned American military surveillance drone in international airspace over the Persian Gulf last week, Pentagon officials disclosed Thursday, saying that while the aircraft was not hit, Washington made a strong protest to Tehran. – New York Times
Lawmakers hear the clock ticking toward deep defense and domestic spending cuts, and senior members of both parties appear poised to pass a measure during a lame duck session that would add additional time to that clock. – Defense News
A comprehensive deal that would dramatically lower America’s massive federal debt and stave off massive defense cuts would get 70 votes in the Senate, says a key member of that chamber’s Budget Committee. – Defense News
With 55 days left before the deadline, very few defense or budget analysts expect Congress and the president to reach the wide ranging deal needed to lift sequestration. Most expect Congress to either delay sequestration cuts, or allow sequestration to occur and then negotiate an agreement to lessen the cuts laid out in the Budget Control Act. – DoD Buzz
The military is in for another eight years of tight budgets, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos predicted [Thursday]. The good news is that the relationship between the four Joint Chiefs who craft their budgets and their chairman is “better than it ever has been.” – AOL Defense
To meet the wish-list requirements of the military’s top regional combatant commanders, the Marine Corps would need four times the amount of amphibious forces currently available, according to the commandant, Gen. James Amos. – The E-Ring
A record number of tech products used by the U.S. military and dozens of other federal agencies are fake. That opens up a myriad of national security risks, from dud missiles to short-circuiting airplane parts to cyberespionage. – CNN’s Security Clearance
Nuclear Weapons
A senior Russian diplomat on Thursday said his country wants to join the United States in discussions on short-range atomic armaments, ITAR-Tass reported. – Global Security Newswire
Intell
Senior intelligence, State Department and FBI officials can expect to be grilled next week as congressional hearings resume on the terror attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Libya that killed four Americans. – CNN’s Security Clearance
Foreign Armies East
China has nearly 750 theater and tactical nuclear warheads in addition to more than 200 strategic missile warheads, a stockpile far larger than U.S. estimates, according to a retired Russian general who once led Moscow’s strategic forces. – Washington Free Beacon
Twenty-six military officers, including two generals, defected from the Syrian army to Turkey overnight, Turkish state media reported on Friday. – Reuters
Retired Turkish military commanders have expressed fury that a former top Kurdish rebel has been allowed to testify against them in a coup trial, citing it as proof the proceedings were meant only to intimidate and undermine the armed forces. – Reuters
President Vladimir V. Putin replaced the head of the Russian military’s general staff and a number of top generals on Friday, continuing an overhaul of military leaders that began with the removal of Russia’s defense minister earlier this week. – New York Times
Chinese patrol boats have harried the Japanese coast guard many times a week for more than a month in an unusually relentless response to their latest maritime spat. – Associated Press
Allies
Japan’s defense minister, Satoshi Morimoto, said on Friday that he wants to revise his nation’s security alliance with the United States to place more emphasis on the threat from China to Japan’s southeastern islands. – New York Times
South Korea’s defense chief on Thursday predicted North Korea would at some undetermined point in time detonate a new atomic device and conduct another trial-firing of a long-range missile, Agence France-Presse reported. – Global Security Newswire
Cybersecurity
The nation’s top military cyber commander offered his version of how government and military agencies are likely to work together when America suffers cyber attacks, and warned that industry needs to take a greater role. – AOL Defense
