By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com May 29, 2009 While Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ decision to halt production of the costly Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor low-observable/stealth fighter aircraft is perhaps not the best long-term strategic decision he could have made, it’s certainly understandable. Given the U.S. government’s–and thus DoD’s–current money crunch vs. the program’s high cost and lack …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com April 6, 2009 I’ve been writing about the vulnerability of U.S. Navy surface ships, particularly large expensive aircraft carriers, against other countries’ anti-ship cruise missiles and torpedoes for awhile, now. Specifically, I’ve focused on the latest crop of supersonic anti-ship cruise missiles and supercavitating torpedoes, even though some argue that long-range wake-homing …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com December 15, 2008 One of our readers, Justin Guyett, has brought a potentially important tactical hardware conflict to DefenseReview’s attention after reading our photo analysis of a 5-man U.S. Secret Service PPD CAT team in a "war wagon" SUV while they were protecting President-Elect Barack Obama in downtown Chicago. In that piece, …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com September 7, 2008 Laser warfare may be closer than we think. Danger Room and Gizmodo both report that Northrop Grumman is promising the U.S. military that it will have working, deployable weapons-grade solid-state, electric lasers (tactical lasers) ready to go by the end of 2008. Solid-state electric lasers have been making progress …

By David Crane defrev at gmail dot com August 20, 2008 The recent dust-up in Georgia between Russian and Geogian forces, i.e. the Russian invasion of Georgia, has reinvigorated expensive, high-tech conventional-warfare/Cold-War-type weapons like the Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor low-observable/stealth fighter aircraft a.k.a. F/A-22 Raptor air-to-air (air-superiority fighter)/ground attack aircraft. The F-22, in particular has been receiving a lot of …

by David Crane defrev at gmail dot com The following email communication about C Products, LLC stainless steel 30-round AR mags (AR-15/M16 rifle magazines) in both 5.56x45mm NATO (5.56mm NATO)/.223 Rem. and 6.8x43mm SPC (6.8 SPC) was forwarded to us by one of our professional contacts. It was written by John Farnam, a tactical shooting instructor who runs Defense Training …

By David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com September 16, 2007 Article updated on 4/07/08. In the world of big business, and big military, money is power. The more money one controls, the more powerful one is. And, in the U.S. military, the bigger the program and sexier the hardware/technology, the more prestige you’ve got, especially if that hardware can …

by David Crane david at defensereview.com November 20, 2006 By now, everyone and their mother knows that last month, in the Pacific, a Chinese submarine stalked a U.S. aircraft carrier battle group and surfaced within torpedo and missile firing range before being detected. DefenseReview can’t really say we’re surprised by this, especially since U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups are no …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com This article contains the first digital photo of a camouflaged/combat-ready/field-ready Foster-Miller Armed/Weaponized Talon Robot/UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle), a.k.a. SWORDS robot of which DefenseReview is aware. The weapon attached to the Talon Robot/SWORDS robot in the pic would appear to be an AT4 anti-armor/anti-tank weapon (ATW) (i.e. rocket launcher), which is produced by Saab Bofors Dynamics, Weapon …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com You may remember our fairly recent article about the Jordanian Security Forces (JSF) adopting Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corp.’s PSD Urban Digital Camouflage Pattern. The article is titled "DefRev Scoop: Jordan Adopts Hyperstealth Advanced-Tech PSD Urban Digital Camo". Well, DefenseReview recently received the scoop on Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corp.’s new Jordanian KA2 Night (Blue) and Jordanian Special Forces Woodland …