* The US Navy posted a summary [obnoxious text-as-image format, because PDF would have been too easy] of the Air-Sea Battle (ASB) concept which even has its own office. Summary of the summary: the US needs to relearn how to fight enemies with better gear than Kalashnikovs, Toyota pickup trucks, and fertilizer. The sort of environment where you expect your ships to catch fire because the enemy is able to get to them.
* The US Army’s Airborne, Maritime, Fixed Station (AMF) Program Office has been working on the Small Airborne Networking Radio (SANR), one of several post-JTRS programs. Here are their latest thoughts on how they plan to tackle this acquisition.
* RAC MiG’s fortunes have taken a beating over the last 2 decades, but a Russian contract to develop their Skat stealth UCAV jet will help. Word that Russia is about to open orders for 37 of their thrust-vectoring MiG-35 fighters could be even better news for the firm.
* Japan is improving its amphibious capability.
* The US and South Korea are still not finding an agreement on uranium enrichment, according to an anonymous source from ROK’s foreign ministry relayed by the Yonhap news agency.
* Efforts to pool and rebrand defense industry players seem at work both in Turkey and Poland. Yesterday Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk reiterated plans to spend $40B on military modernization in the next decade.
* 67 countries [PDF] signed the UN’s Arms Trade Treaty. The US is not among that first wave of signatories, on a technicality (or so said [PDF] State Secretary John Kerry). What’s the point in the absence of ratification by China and Russia?
* Washington think tanks are expanding their alliance and pushing their offensive urging [PDF] the Pentagon and Congress to tackle the size and costs of DoD’s civilian workforce, healthcare, and bases. Crazy talk! When a consensus builds through the whole political spectrum from the Center of American Progress to Brookings all the way to Cato and AEI, you know you have a serious issue on your hands. Heritage stands out for its absence from this list of reform supporters, but that is not where the Administration and Congress will find support to keep doing what they have been doing (or not doing). Video below:
