Some defense and security links:
Barry Watts has a new report published by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments that traces the evolution of precision strike capabilities. Watts notes that contrary to estimates in the 1990s, “the principal fact about precision strike remains that over the last two decades the United States alone has been able to bring reconnaissance strike to bear in distant theaters around the globe.” He discusses some of the reasons for this, before warning that “there is reason to anticipate that in the years ahead at least some other nations—including China, Russia, and Iran—will endeavor to either begin catching up with or erode the U.S. lead in reconnaissance strike.” Watts also speculates that far more states and even non-state actors like Hezbollah and al-Qaeda could acquire short-range precision guided rockets, artillery, mortars and missiles (G-RAMM).
South Korea's Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) has set up a military robotic department to facilitate research into unmanned military operations, according to Yonhap News Agency. The report said the effort will prioritize using robots for “front-line monitoring, reconnaissance and mine removal.”
China and Russia carried out their first live fire drill during recent anti-terrorism exercises, Xinhua reports.
The U.S. Air Force is considering going back to the Cold War, the Air Force Times reports. The report says the U.S. Air Force might adopt in the Pacific the Checkered Flag deployments used in Europe during the Cold War. This would mean that almost all tactical units based in the U.S. would deploy to a base in the Pacific at least every two years.
According to Defense News, in an effort to save money U.S. Department of Defense might realign the Combatant Commands in order to reduce the number of them. Among the proposed changes to the Pacific Command would be to expand it to include Pakistan and Afghanistan, which currently are part of Central Command.
Vietnamese media outlets are reporting that the second Vietnam-Japan Defense Policy Dialogue was held in Tokyo on August 9.