* Per instruction number 5025.13 [PDF] enabled by DoD Directive 5105.53 (Reference (a)) and pursuant to Public Law 111-274 (Reference (b))(also known as the “Plain Writing Act of 2010,” and referred to in this instruction as the “Plain Writing Act”) and Deputy Secretary of Defense Memorandum (Reference (c)), DoD personnel and contractors will hereby commit to procure low-refraction, high-frequency semantic building blocks on a should-cost COTS basis. Personnel will utilize and combine these building blocks effectively to support the warfighter with streamlined, unimpeded flows of leading edge communication. Phew, what a relief, and it only took a 14-page directive to tell people to speak plainly. The follow-up GAO report will state “DoD Takes Steps to Ameliorate Memorandum Babble, Still Speaks Gibberish Most of Time.”
* US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on the Distinguished Warfare Medal, post directive 5025.13: “Nuts!”
* US CNO Admiral Johnathan Greenert, post 5025.13: “There’s something weird in the neighborhood, who you gonna call? US NAVY!” 5025.13: best DoD directive in years.
* China released its 2013 defense whitepaper. It confirms their intent to intensify blue water training. Andrew Erickson notes discrepancies between the stated personnel by service in this document versus earlier estimates by Western sources. In the process they declassified designations used for the 18 corps within the PLA, which is supposed to count as transparency.
* The Chinese 3-ship flotilla which recently visited Malta, Algeria and Morocco is now in Portugal and will end its voyage in France.
* Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is dissatisfied with the low rate of contract execution by his country’s Ministry of Defense, with only 67.5% of planned contracts properly placed with the State Defense Order. New legislation on defense procurement seems fuzzy [PDF] and hard to implement. Auditor Aleksandr Piskunov recently told the Duma that even after nominally meeting the state defense order goals in past years, arms programs nonetheless continued to fail at a high rate. It is going to be a tall order for Russia’s defense industry to meet Vladimir Putin’s ambitious modernization goals.
* Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin pierced US missile defense… with sharp words.
* The US Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) has delayed the issuance of its finalized RFP for the Ship Self Defense System (SSDS) Combat System Engineering Agent (CSEA) to FY15.
* Airbus’ much-ballyhooed inert drop test of an MBDA Marte MK2/S missile from a C295 Maritime Patrol Aircraft doesn’t demonstrate true firing integration. It may still be of interest to countries like Chile, which already field the C295 MPA, and to prospective customers like India.