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March 26, 2021 | International, Aerospace

AFRL directed energy industry days

Kirtland NM (AFRL) Mar 24, 2021 - The Air Force Research Laboratory Directed Energy Directorate will host a Virtual Briefing for Industry to introduce the new Directed Energy Technology Experimentation Research (DETER), Advanced Res

https://www.spacewar.com/reports/AFRL_directed_energy_industry_days_999.html

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  • Global Defense Spending Decline Expected As Nations Deal with Coronavirus

    April 29, 2020 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

    Global Defense Spending Decline Expected As Nations Deal with Coronavirus

    Experts see domestic projects taking priority over national security in the coming years. After five straight years of growth, global defense spending is expected to decline in the coming years as nations deal with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, analysts say. In 2019, global defense spending topped $1.9 trillion, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's latest tally. The U.S. represents 38 percent of the world's defense expenditures and with China, the two superpowers account for 52 percent of the world's defense spending. But because of COVID-19, experts anticipate a shift government spending worldwide toward domestic projects and away from weapons and the military. “What we can expect is that spending [is] really going to decrease,” Nan Tian, a defense spending expert with the institute, said Tuesday during a Stimson Center webcast. “We've seen this historically following the [2008 and 2009 financial] crisis where many countries in Europe really started to cut back on military spending.” Even before the coronavirus sent the global economy into a tailspin, U.S. defense spending had been predicted to flatten in the coming years. Now with trillions of dollars being spent on massive coronavirus stimulus packages, flat defense spending levels could wind up being a best-case scenario. “In today's world with [coronavirus], flat defense budget, I think, is what everybody is hoping for because it could go the other direction; it could go negative,” Hawk Carlisle, president and CEO of the National Defense Industrial Association and a retired four-star commander of Air Combat Command and Pacific Air Forces, said in an interview Tuesday. “This is going to be years to climb out of.” One reason for the expected spending dip: the deficit. Regardless of the results of the November presidential and congressional elections, deficit reduction is likely to become a priority. A recent estimate pegs the 2020 deficit at $3.8 trillion. But it is expected that a Trump re-election would keep Republicans in more of a spending mood. “If the presidency goes to a Democrat, then Republicans are going to get more about being fiscal conservatives again sooner,” Todd Harrison, a defense budget expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS, said during a Monday webcast. “If Trump wins a second term, we probably have another year or two reprieve from that.” Mackenzie Eaglen of the American Enterprise Institute is wary that lawmakers eager to reduce federal spending in the wake of coronavirus bailouts could enact a deficit-cutting measure akin to the Budget Control Act of 2011, which capped defense spending annually between 2013 and 2021. “The Budget Control Act by another name ... could come as fast as next [fiscal] year,” she said on the same webcast. While defense and security spending is typically a top priority of Republicans and defense-minded Democrats, stabilizing the U.S. economy and healthcare could become a higher priority regardless of who wins the election and control in Congress. Among voters in both parties, there is wide public support for reducing expensive overseas military interventions. DON'T MISS The Pentagon Will Use AI to Predict Panic Buying, COVID-19 Hotspots How China Sees the World Did the Coronavirus Escape from a Chinese Lab? Here's What the Pentagon Says The 1918 flu and the U.S. military Haircuts in a Time of Coronavirus? “[I]solationism may exert a countervailing force, as there is demand to steer resources away from defense and towards domestic needs (healthcare, education, jobs),” Byron Callan, an analyst with Capital Alpha Partners, wrote in an April 23 note to investors. “[W]e are seeing that awarding disproportionate resources to military spending may be weakening the resilience of other sectors in our economy,” Mandy Smithberger — director of the Straus Military Reform Project at the Center for Defense Information, part of the Project on Government Oversight — said on the Stimson Center webcast. “I think we are going to be seeing real political debate about how much money should go to military spending, how much we should be prioritizing arms sales and interests of the defense industry,” she said. Unlike the past decade when foreign arms sales, to some extent, were a backstop to weapon makers amid U.S. defense spending declines, this time around will likely be different since the world economy is dealing with coronavirus. Smithberger said low oil prices could weaken the buying power in the region that spends heavily on U.S. weapons. While the U.S. and China remain the top two defense spenders, last year India and Russia jumped ahead of Saudi Arabia, which fell to fifth on the list. Germany climbed from ninth to seventh — jumping ahead of the U.K. and Japan. NATO allies collectively spent just over $1 trillion. All of that spending is likely to drop. https://www.defenseone.com/politics/2020/04/global-defense-spending-decline-expected-nations-deal-coronavirus/164997

  • National Reconnaissance Office launches new intelligence satellite

    November 17, 2020 | International, Aerospace

    National Reconnaissance Office launches new intelligence satellite

    Nathan Strout WASHINGTON — The National Reconnaissance launched a new intelligence satellite into orbit from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on Nov. 13, marking the American agency's fourth successful launch of the year. “We're excited to be back at CCAFS with another successful launch alongside our partners at ULA [United Launch Alliance], the 45th Space Wing, and the U.S. Space Force Space and Missile Systems Center. The successful launch of NROL-101 is another example of the NRO's commitment to constantly evolving our crucial national security systems to support our defense and intelligence partners,” said Col. Chad Davis, director of NRO's Office of Space Launch. NROL-101 was launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with help from the Space Force's Space and Missile Systems Center's Launch Enterprise. The Atlas family of rockets have been used for 668 successful launches since it was first introduced in 1957. For this mission, ULA incorporated new Northrop Grumman Graphite Epoxy Motors 63 solid-fuel rocket boosters, which helped the first stage lift more weight by burning solid propellant. Each of the 66-foot rocket boosters contributed a maximum 371,550 pounds of thrust to help lift the rocket and its payload off the ground. Those boosters will be an important component for ULA's future generation of Vulcan Centaur launch vehicles. This was the fourth successful NRO launch of the year. Previously, the agency had conducted two launches from New Zealand and one from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. NRO does not usually reveal details of its satellites or their specific functions. In a statement, the agency simply noted that the classified national security payload was built by NRO in support of its overhead reconnaissance mission. NRO's next scheduled launch is NROL-108, which is slated to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in December 2020. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2020/11/16/national-reconnaissance-office-launches-new-intelligence-satellite/

  • State clears UK’s planned $1B buy of Joint Air-to-Ground Missile

    October 23, 2023 | International, Land

    State clears UK’s planned $1B buy of Joint Air-to-Ground Missile

    The UK is one step closer to adding Joint Air-to-Ground Missiles to its weapons inventory.

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