Newly updated reports from the Congressional Research Service on various U.S. Navy programs include the following.
Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program: Background, Issues and Options for Congress, March 14, 2013
Navy Ohio Replacement (SSBN[X]) Ballistic Missile Submarine Program: Background and Issues for Congress, March 14, 2013
Navy DDG-51 and DDG-1000 Destroyer Programs: Background and Issues for Congress, March 14, 2013
Navy Shipboard Lasers for Surface, Air, and Missile Defense: Background and Issues for Congress, March 14, 2013
Navy Virginia (SSN-774) Class Attack Submarine Procurement: Background and Issues for Congress, March 13, 2013
Navy Ford (CVN-78) Class Aircraft Carrier Program: Background and Issues for Congress, March 13, 2013
Navy Force Structure and Shipbuilding Plans: Background and Issues for Congress, March 1, 2013 … Read More
CRS Reports on Navy Programs
Army Weapon Systems 2012
The 2012 edition of the U.S. Army Weapon Systems handbook provides a concise description of dozens of Army weapon systems and programs. In each case it presents system specifications and indicates the current status of procurement or development. It identifies contractors by name and location as well as foreign military sales, where applicable.
“The systems listed in this book are not isolated, individual products. Rather, they are part of an integrated system-of-systems investment approach designed to make the Army of the future able to deal successfully with the challenges it will face,” the handbook says.
“Our goal is to develop and field a versatile and affordable mix of equipment that will enable Soldiers to succeed in full-spectrum operations today and tomorrow, ensuring that we maintain our decisive advantage over any enemy we face.”
The post Army Weapon Systems 2012 appears on Secrecy News from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy. … Read More
Army Weapon Systems 2012
The 2012 edition of the U.S. Army Weapon Systems handbook provides a concise description of dozens of Army weapon systems and programs. In each case it presents system specifications and indicates the current status of procurement or development. It identifies contractors by name and location as well as foreign military sales, where applicable.
“The systems listed in this book are not isolated, individual products. Rather, they are part of an integrated system-of-systems investment approach designed to make the Army of the future able to deal successfully with the challenges it will face,” the handbook says.
“Our goal is to develop and field a versatile and affordable mix of equipment that will enable Soldiers to succeed in full-spectrum operations today and tomorrow, ensuring that we maintain our decisive advantage over any enemy we face.”
The post Army Weapon Systems 2012 appears on Secrecy News from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy. … Read More
Studies on Military R&D (1984)
The role of scientific research in weapon development was explored through four case studies written in 1984 by arms control scholar Milton Leitenberg. The case studies examine the development of anti-satellite weapons; weather modification; Multiple Independent Reentry Vehicles (MIRVs); and biological weapons research.
Military research does not cause arms races, Leitenberg argued, nor is it autonomous or self-sustaining. Rather, military R&D is driven by a deliberate political process. Weapons systems are “produced by an enormous enterprise consciously established by political decision to produce them.”
“Military R&D is guided and directed: questions are put; particular materials, effects, and performance capabilities are sought; and research funding is allocated accordingly.”
It follows that a reallocation of research funding is also a political possibility. “Particularly in the area of weapons development and procurement decisions, there seems to be extremely little, if any, ‘technological imperative’ [that would somehow compel certain technology choices],” Leitenberg wrote.
The studies were originally prepared in support of a United Nations report. That UN report was never released, the author explains, due to objections from a Soviet official who wanted references to the USSR excised. But the supporting studies have now been published on the Federation of American Scientists website. See “Studies on Military R&D and Weapons Development” by Milton Leitenberg, 1984.
The post Studies on Military R&D (1984) appears on Secrecy News from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy. … Read More
