Afghanistan to US: Would You Consider Staying A Little Longer?

• It’s not an official request yet, but Afghan President Ashraf Ghani would like the US to slow its drawdown in the next 2 years.

South Korea’s 2015 Defense Budget Up 4.9%

• According to the Korea Herald, South Korea’s 2015 defense budget has been finalized by parliament at 37.4 trillion won ($33.4B), a 4.9% increase slightly below what the ministry had asked. 11.1 trillion won ($9.9B) is allocated to procurement.

New Zealand’s ANZAC Frigates Getting Combat Upgrades

NZ ANZACs

It’s time to modernize New Zealand’s only serious combat ships. New Zealand bought 2 ANZAC frigates in the 1990s, as a cooperative venture with Australia using the MEKO 100 German design. F77 Te Kaha was commissioned in 1996, and F111 Te Mana was commissioned in 1997. At the time, the ships were adequate low-end frigates, but 20 years later, they’re simply obsolete. New Zealand has long realized that changes were required, and has been planning and funding a whole series of changes since 2006.

ASTROS 2020 MLRS: Brazil’s Industrial Investment in Precision Strike

Saudi ASTROS-II

At the end of August 2011, Brazil’s Ministerio da Defesa announced the beginning of a BRL 1.09 billion (about $685 million) project to update Avibras’ ASTROS (Artillery SaTuration ROcket System) multiple rocket launcher system to the ASTROS 2020 configuration. It will also develop a GPS-guided short-range rocket, and an AV-TM300 missile option that gives the new system a 300 km strike range. That level of reach would stand out in the global market, as it would rival the USA’s MLRS(Multiple Launch Rocket System)/ATACMS(Army Tactical Missile System) combination.

The initial funding amounts belie the importance of this program, on 2 levels. One source of importance is industrial. The other is ASTROS 2020’s status as an indicator, pointing the way toward the future spread of advanced precision strike technologies.

DARPA Seeks Better Targeting Support for Tactical Airborne Surveillance and Strike

• DARPA is organizing a proposer’s day [FBO] on December 16 in Arlington, VA, to discuss the Target Recognition and Adaption in Contested Environment (TRACE), a program meant to “develop algorithms and techniques that rapidly and accurately identify military targets using radar sensors on manned and unmanned tactical platforms.”

Pentagon Releases Request for Information to Support Its Latest Offset Strategy

Hmm, I’ll research
“Swarm Robotics” next

Just before resigning, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel launched a “third offset” strategy whose purpose was to invite DoD and civilian resources to identify future technologies that would allow the US to maintain and renew its military technological superiority. Senior DoD officials such as Frank Kendall had been fretting for months about the challenge posed by rising technical savvy from the likes of China, whether developed locally or through spying. This is a legitimate concern, and continuity should be insured after Hagel’s departure by Defense Deputy Secretary Bob Work, who was named as the point man for this initiative.

Indeed by early December 2014 this strategy was couched into a Long Range Research and Development Plan (LRRDP) Request for Information (RFI). But this document lacks specifics or attractiveness for the type of organizations DoD would most like to hear from.

US Defense Services Sector in Need of Consolidation

• Engility CEO Anthony Smeraglinolo noted [Defense News] during a speech at the I/ITSEC tradeshow that the number of contractors active in the government services market had grown vastly beyond the market itself.

• USMC General (Ret.) and NDIA chairman Arnold Punaro is looking for someone [WaPo] willing to write a proper “38-page requirement to buy a chocolate-chip cookie.” Someone step up, it can be done! Three pages alone can be allocated to the vexing problem of whether raisins are an adequate substitute. The 81-page “comparison of nutrient intakes between a Ft. Riley contractor-operated and a Ft. Lewis military-operated garrison dining facility” [PDF] by the US Army’s Medical R&D Command is a good place to start.

• A USSOCOM C-27J and a USAF C-130H made contact on Monday while conducting reportedly separate flight training near Fort Bragg, NC. They were able to land safely without reported injuries, though both aircraft were damaged. 440th Airlift Wing | Fayetteville Observer.

• The US Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) merged 2 directorates last week into the new Advanced Systems and Development Directorate (SMC/AD). The new entity is in charge of developmental planning and demonstrations of space capabilities.

Obama to Nominate Ashton Carter as US Defense Secretary

• The two names on top of President Obama’s short list [AP] to succeed Chuck Hagel as Defense Secretary were former Defense Undersecretary Ashton Carter and current Undersecretary Bob Work. Carter was clearly interested in the job when Hagel was selected instead in January 2013, and ends up being the choice announced by CNN and Bloomberg this morning. However by mid-afternoon this still hadn’t been officially confirmed. If Ash Carter is indeed Obama’s nominee, his senatorial confirmation is unlikely to be an issue.

• Meanwhile Work decries [WaPo] Congress’ inability to pass bills on time and its unwillingness to concede that another round of base consolidation has to happen.

• The chairmen of the US House and Senate Armed Services Committee seem to have reached an agreement on the FY15 defense authorization bill, and were expected to make a joint statement today at noon (ET). Meanwhile appropriations look likely [The Hill] to again be handled through an omnibus bill.

Global Terms of Trade Shift as Oil, Currencies Face Wild Fluxes

• Oil prices have continued their steep decline last week and so far today, paired with a surge in the US dollar’s value against everything from the Euro and Yen to the currencies of many emerging economies. Russia’s ruble is suffering the same fate [WSJ] as the country’s main export, dropping as much as 9% earlier today before somewhat rallying.

• All this means that contractors from outside of the US are getting respite after years of an arguably overpriced Euro, while their American competitors will face more difficult export odds. If this lasts, it’s bad news for US firms such as Raytheon or Textron who have pointed to foreign sales as their way to balance decreasing American orders.

• Talks of oil dropping as low as $30 [Bloomberg] still seem a bit outlandish absent a demand crash, but then few were predicting the speed and strength at which oil prices have already declined.