By Theresa Hitchens, Tuesday, April 9, 2019 1:04 PM
Mackenzie Eaglen | RealClearDefense
The president may prefer to delay his nomination for secretary of defense, but it is potentially harmful to those in uniform, for the bureaucracy, and for Congress. A confirmed appointee will have greater freedom to set a clear agenda and hold the department accountable to it.
China Tests Laser Weapon Similar to U.S. Navy Prototype
From Maritime Executive: “China's People's Liberation Army Navy (PLA Navy) is testing a tactical laser system that bears remarkable similarity to the U.S. Navy's Laser Weapon System (LaWS), an anti-surface / anti-air defensive weapon which has been in development since 2014."
(The National Interest) Imagine the sudden revelation of a weapon that can suddenly go six times faster than its predecessors. The shock of such a breakthrough system would turn an entire field of warfare on its head, as potential adversaries scrambled to deploy countermeasures to a new weapon they are defenseless against.
Russia Scrapping Its Legendary Nuclear-Powered Battlecruisers
From Defence Blog: T"he Russian Navy with state-owned nuclear power company Rosatom decided canceling planned service-life extensions and modernization on its two legendary nuclear-powered Kirov-class battlecruisers or heavy missile cruisers, according to Izvestiya newspaper."
Russian Navy Ever Less Capable of Supporting Putin's War Plans
By Paul Goble, Eurasia Daily Monitor: “The Russian navy, the Military-Maritime Fleet, always a poor relation to the Russian Land Forces given geography and national traditions, has been contracting in size since 1985. Now, as Izvestia announced last week, it is going to decline still further because of a decision by the Ministry of Defense to scrap two major surface vessels and four submarines rather than modernize these aging Soviet-era naval assets."