Author: Michael

The Future Combat Air System (FCAS) next generation fighter program being jointly developed by France, Germany and Spain has continued to face growing difficulties, as the program’s viability has for years been in serious question. Most recently, disagreements between two of the primary participating firms, Airbus and Dassault, have reportedly caused major delays to the ongoing technology development phase of the program, marking the latest of several cases of infighting hampering progress.

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In one of the lesser known incidents of the Cold War, a Soviet-built MiG-25 Foxbat combat jet landed in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on October 2, 1987, making the UAE one of the few countries in the world to ever host the aircraft. The MiG-25 was, and remains today, the fastest combat aircraft ever to enter service worldwide, with its speed exceeded only by the American SR-71 and A-12 reconnaissance planes – larger aircraft that were orders of magnitude more costly to procure and operate.

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Can the American military maintain deterrence in East Asia without fixing its shipbuilding? The U.S. Navy’s fleet is rusting and shrinking, while China’s grows. Last week, new data showed Chinese shipbuilding again accelerating relative to American, with 54 percent of global output, up from 35 percent a decade ago. “All of our programs are a mess,” said Secretary of the Navy John Phelan before the Senate. Chinese military planners may conclude it is time to risk their fleet against America’s.

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The U.S. Army doesn’t have a data problem. But it does have a “data-in-the-right-place-in-a-usable-format” problem. And that matters for decision-making in future war.Think about all the places we have tactical warfighting information. In some cases, it’s in a stove-piped, warfighting-system-specific program. In other cases, it’s in a green notebook in a platoon sergeant’s cargo pocket or written on a piece of cardboard. We have the data, but it’s not in the hands or on the screen of the commander who needs it.

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