Defense Watch

Defense Daily, Dec 8, 2008

Curing "Next-War-Itis." The U.S. military must improve its irregular warfare capabilities, Defense Secretary Robert Gates writes in the upcoming issue of Foreign Affairs. The fight against extremism will be a "prolonged, worldwide, irregular campaign," he writes. He has repeatedly criticized the Pentagon bureaucracy for "next-war-itis" --building expensive weapon systems for high-end conflicts that may never come while neglecting the low intensity wars currently being fought. In the article, Gates instead calls for the rapid fielding of cheaper, low-tech weapons. "It is time to think hard about how to institutionalize the procurement of such capabilities and get them fielded quickly," Gates writes. The article criticizes his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, for overemphasizing conventional "shock and awe" capabilities. "We should look askance at idealistic, triumphalist or ethnocentric notions...that imagine it is possible to cow, shock or awe an enemy into submission," Gates writes, "instead of tracking enemies down hilltop by hilltop, house by house, block by bloody block."

New Bomber Squadron. The Air Force is creating a fourth B-52 squadron as part of the service's effort to reinvigorate its nuclear capabilities. A provisional location for the newly established Global Strike Command is expected to be announced by the end of the year, Air Force sources tell Defense Daily. Most say Minot AFB, N.D., is the most likely location, but no official decision has been made. The new squadron will stand up by late 2009 or early 2010, according to officials. Minot currently has one operational B-52 squadron. The total active B-52 fleet is composed of 76 aircraft. Global Strike Command is intended to place the Air Force's ICBMs and nuclear-capable bombers under a single command.

Top Team. A Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., weapons-development team recently won the prestigious "Top Five Department of Defense Program Award" for its work on the 120mm Dismounted Mortar Fire Control System, or MFCS-D, during the National Defense Industrial Association's Systems Engineering Conference in San Diego. The award is given to technology programs that best exemplify system- engineering and program-management principles, practices and results, and are considered models for meeting cost, schedule and performance requirements. The MFCS-D is a new fire control system that will be integrated into the 120mm mortar to make the weapon fire more easily and accurately, says Ron Tatusch, Dismounted Mortar System team lead. It combines a highly accurate weapon- pointing device, inertial navigation and position system and digital- communications capability, all embedded in the fire-control computer. The MFCS-D will make the weapon system three times more accurate and allow mortar crews to send and receive digital call-for-fire messages, calculate ballistic solutions, determine the position of the gun and accurately point the weapon.

Leading Edge. The Edge Innovation Network is now at 70 members after opening in December 2006 at General Dynamics C4 Systems in Scottsdale, Ariz. Since opening, the EDGE facility has a record for rapidly turning out new capabilities and equipment to meet lower size, weight and power requirements. "As the U.S. Department of Defense transitions their current networks into a Joint Netcentric environment, the complexity and challenges associated with operating command, control, and communications systems have never been greater," says Col. Roger McDonald, Army Training and Doctrine Command's capability manager for Battle Command. "The EDGE model provides an excellent venue for the military to directly interact with industry in order to rapidly deliver an interoperable automation solution that meets the warfighter's critical needs." The success of EDGE in the United States led General Dynamics United Kingdom to open EDGE UK last month.