Former military officers say cuts will damage defence

Harrier jump jets were among the victims of the strategic defence review

Ten retired senior military officers have written to the prime minister to voice their concerns over the loss of the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal.

A former field marshal, three generals and six admirals say the loss of Ark Royal and its fleet of Harrier jets has damaged Britain's defence capabilities.
They say Britain can no longer mount amphibious operations without putting troops' lives at "considerable risk".
Defence Secretary Liam Fox has defended the "difficult decisions".
The BBC's defence correspondent, Jonathan Beale, said the letter, which was leaked to the Daily Telegraph, raises questions about what military rescue operation forces could mount in the future.
In December, Dr Fox announced that the frigate sent to evacuate British nationals from Libya - HMS Cumberland - is to be decommissioned in April, following the strategic defence and security review (SDSR).

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The government's plans were based on strategic and international geo-political assumptions, many of which have been shaken over the past month”

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Our correspondent says this is not the first time former military top brass have warned that recent cuts in the armed forces have left Britain dangerously exposed.

Labour has already called for the defence review to be reopened in light of events in Egypt, Bahrain and Libya.
The letter - written before the current evacuation operation in Libya - is signed by, among others, Field Marshal Lord Bramall, a former chief of the defence staff; Maj Gen Julian Thompson and Adm Sir Jeremy Black, who commanded the carrier Invincible during the Falklands conflict.
Dr Fox insists Britain still has the "right military assets" in place to respond to crises.
But this group of former military commanders is calling on the prime minister to reassess the decisions made in the defence review.

HMS Cumberland is due to be scrapped in April

They have called for a re-evaluation of the SDSR, which they say is "unduly trusting in an uncertain, fast-moving and dangerous world".
However Dr Fox defended the steps taken to tackle the £38bn deficit left by Labour and said the review would not be reopened.
"For our future carrier strike capability, it makes strategic sense to move towards greater inter-operability with the US and France and installing catapult and arrestor gear will deliver this.
"Sustaining both Tornado and Harrier would be prohibitively expensive in this current economic climate and Tornado continues to provide vital support to the front line in Afghanistan," he said.
Referring to Libya, he said Hercules C-130 aircraft had lifted 51 UK citizens to safety on Thursday - and more than 100 were on their way to Malta on HMS Cumberland.
"None of our allies have seen fit to position an aircraft carrier off the coast of Libya as this is not the tool required for this task; there is no requirement for ground attack aircraft, but even if there were we would use our extensive regional basing and overflight rights," he said.
But shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy said: "The government's plans were based on strategic and international geo-political assumptions, many of which have been shaken over the past month.
"Recent dramatic events mean that the defence review must be reopened and perhaps even rethought. It would be sensible to stop and reflect again on our nation's strategic defence needs."

Lawmakers React to USAF Tanker Pick

Here are the initial statements from several U.S. lawmakers on the U.S. Air Force's decision to select Boeing to build the service's KC-X next-generation tanker.
■ Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wa.: "Today's long-awaited decision by the Pentagon is the right one for our military, our taxpayers and our nation's aerospace workers," said Murray, an avid Boeing supporter. Boeing intends to build its 767-based tankers in her home state.

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"At a time when our economy is hurting and good-paying aerospace jobs are critical to our recovery, this decision is great news for the skilled workers of Everett and the thousands of suppliers across the country who will help build this critical tanker for our Air Force," she said." This decision is a major victory for the American workers, the American aerospace industry and America's military. And it is consistent with the President's own call to 'out-innovate' and 'out-build' the rest of the world.
■ Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Ala.: "After having already won the competition three years ago and having brought to the table the best refueling aircraft for our military, it's deeply disappointing that Mobile and the Gulf Coast were not chosen as the home of the new Air Force tanker," said Bonner. EADS intended to assemble its tankers in Bonner's district of Mobile, Ala. "Unfortunately, the best tanker for our military was not selected. I intend to demand a full accounting as to why.
"While there was great optimism that our team would ultimately prevail, we've also been conditioned to expect the unexpected," he continued. 'This competition has been challenged before and it's not unlikely it will be challenged again. It will ultimately be up to EADS to determine whether they will protest this decision and I will fully support whatever decision they make."
■ Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.: "I am deeply disappointed that the EADS team was not selected to build the next air refueling tanker for the Air Force," Sessions said. "Three years ago, EADS won this competition because their aircraft had objectively superior capabilities and offered dramatic savings for the taxpayer. In light of today's result, I intend to examine the process carefully to ensure it was fairly conducted.
"Regardless of today's unfortunate outcome, the EADS team's decision to manufacture the aircraft in Mobile was a clear affirmation by a world-class corporation of our state's remarkable workforce," he continues. "EADS would not have chosen Alabama if they did not firmly believe that our state was a great place to do business in the global economy. I look forward to assisting them in expanding their presence in Alabama."
■ Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn.: "I applaud the Obama administration for this decision, especially after such a long process, and I am delighted to see the Department of Defense select the best air refueling tanker for our nation's brave war fighters at the best price for our taxpayers," said DeLauro. Boeing intends to install Pratt & Whitney-built engines, which are built in Connecticut.
"The award comes at a critical time when we need to be creating jobs and driving long-term economic growth, in Connecticut and nationwide," she said. "Along with terminating the costly and unnecessary Joint Strike Fighter alternate engine program, this has been a great week for defense manufacturing jobs in Connecticut."
■ Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla.: "Today, I applaud the United States Air Force and Boeing on bringing 50,000 jobs to our nation and taking the first step in assuring current and future U.S. air dominance," Inhofe said. "The KC-135 tanker aircraft has proven essential to our nation's defense as the success of our recent military operations would not have been possible without the utilization of our tanker inventory. Replacing the first 179 aging Eisenhower-era KC-135s is paramount to maintaining our military's strategic advantage.
"Now, we must ensure that funding levels remain constant and quality planes are delivered on time. I look forward to the next steps, including determining basing locations," he said. "The 97th Air Mobility Wing at Altus, AFB has long stood ready to train the next generation of tanker operators, and they look forward to continuing the mobility training mission. The 76th Maintenance Wing (MXW) and Oklahoma Air Logistics Center Aerospace Sustainment Directorate at Tinker, AFB will play key roles in maintaining the new tanker."
■ Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Kent Conrad, D-N.D., co-chairmen of the Senate Tanker Caucus: "I'm pleased the Defense Department has finally awarded the contract to replace our nation's aging fleet of KC-135 tanker aircraft," said Hatch.
"The awarding of this contract is long overdue," Conrad said. "The men and women of our Air Force need and deserve the most up to date equipment. That includes the best refueling tankers in the world. This announcement is the first step to getting a long, drawn-out process back on track so that we can deploy these much-needed replacements to support our troops."
■ Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.: "I am pleased that the Air Force has made a decision to award a contract for a replacement aerial refueling tanker," McCain said. "The tanker aircraft that the Air Force will ultimately buy under this contract will be critical to how joint operations are conducted for the foreseeable future. I look forward to the Air Force demonstrating over the next few weeks how today's decision was made fairly, openly and transparently. Only such a process will ensure that we obtain the most capable aerial refueling tanker at the most reasonable cost."
■ House Armed Services Committee leaders: "Today's announcement moves us closer to providing the world's premier aerial fighting forces with a new and much-needed aerial refueling capability," they said. 'Our primary goal on the Armed Services Committee is to provide our military's men and women with the resources they need in the most effective and efficient way possible.
"Moving forward, the committee will continue the necessary oversight to ensure the evaluation was transparent and fair to each competitor," they continued. "We look forward to receiving more information from the Air Force as we review their decision-making processes. The Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee will hold a hearing on this issue as soon as enough information is publicly available."

Envoys Discuss North Korea's Nuclear Program

WASHINGTON - South Korea's nuclear negotiations chief met with U.S. special envoy for North Korea Stephen Bosworth on Feb. 24 to discuss Pyongyang's uranium enrichment program, officials said.
The program disclosed last November potentially gives the North a second way to make nuclear weapons, in addition to its plutonium stockpile and envoy Wi Sung-Lac's visit came a day after the North's main ally China blocked publication of a United Nations report criticizing the program.

Wi also held talks with Robert Einhorn, the U.S. State Department's special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control, and with his U.S. counterpart Sung Kim, according to a spokesman.
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Wi would hold talks Friday with Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Kurt Campbell.
Prior to his departure, Wi told reporters his trip would focus on how to cope with the uranium program at the U.N. Security Council and consider ways to create the right conditions for resuming long-stalled six-party talks on the North's nuclear disarmament.
The sanctions panel report blocked by China calls for tougher implementation of the measures and outlines the progress the North has made on uranium enrichment, according to diplomats.
It describes the enrichment as a new violation of sanctions imposed following atomic tests in 2006 and 2009.
China chairs the talks grouping China, Japan, Russia, the United States and the two Koreas last held in December 2008 and has been trying to revive them to ease overall tensions on the Korean peninsula. It says the uranium issue should be dealt with at that forum.

Taiwan Reels From Spy Arrest

TAIPEI - Taiwan military officials are still reeling from the late-January arrest of a one-star army general on accusations of spying for China, the worst espionage scandal in Taiwan's history.
Gen. Lo Hsien-che, who ran the communications, electronics and information division of Army Command Headquarters, stands accused of compromising the Po Sheng (Broad Victory) C4I program. Po Sheng includes a fiber-optic communication cable network and procedures for sharing information with U.S. Pacific Command.

During Lo's 2002-05 stint as defense attaché in Thailand, he was allegedly recruited by a mainland Chinese agent in 2004.
Sources in the Ministry of National Defense (MND) indicated that an investigation into Lo began in October. He was arrested in his home Jan. 25.
MND officials announced his arrest Feb. 8, and said a damage assessment team is looking into how much Lo may have given China.
U.S. officials are pressuring Taiwan to be more transparent about the damage allegedly caused by Lo. The consequences could include losing the Pentagon's confidence in Taiwan's ability to protect U.S. defense technologies sold to the self-rule island. Taiwan is pushing Washington hard for the release of new F-16 fighter aircraft and is awaiting delivery of Patriot PAC-3 air defense missile systems and P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft. All are technologies China is anxious to learn more about.
One former Taiwan defense attaché said the MND is unlikely to dig too deeply. There's a long tradition of "making a big issue small" (da shi hua xiao) in Taiwan's military bureaucracy, the former attaché said.
"Even if the top leader asks whoever is in charge of the investigation to be completely honest, from the second level down, people will most likely try to make it sound less serious," he said.
He said the MND must begin polygraphing returning attachés or risk further problems.
A MND official said the level of damage is uncertain and accused local media outlets of making up quotes and information to sensationalize the Lo case.
What is certain is the Lo case is one of several arrests over the past five years of Taiwan and U.S. officials involved in the Po Sheng program.
These include the 2008 arrest and subsequent conviction of Gregg Bergersen, director of the Pentagon's C4ISR program for Taiwan at the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. Bergersen was part of the Kuo Tai-shen spy ring that included James Fondren, another Pentagon official working on Taiwan issues. They are now in U.S. federal prisons.
In November, a Taiwan colonel in Taiwan's Military Intelligence Bureau (MIB) was arrested and charged with supplying the names of MIB agents to China.

Top US Officer In Gulf To Reassure Allies

MUSCAT - The United States' top military officer on Monday made a discreet visit to Oman which guards the Strait of Hormuz opposite Iran's coast as Pentagon strategists monitor the strategic and vital waterway.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, also visited Bahrain, home to Washington's Fifth Fleet, as anti-regime protests gathered steam in the kingdom.

The key U.S. ally has been rocked by anti-regime protests since Feb. 14 as thousands of mainly Shiite protesters demand an end to the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty, which has ruled Bahrain, a majority Shiite country, for over 200 years.
Mullen has been touring the Gulf since Sunday to reassure U.S. regional allies after mass revolts in the Arab world that have toppled two of Washington's allies, Tunisia's Zine El Abdine Ben Ali and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak.
Mullen has said his visits were aimed at "reaffirming, reassuring and also trying to understand where the leaderships of these countries are going, and in particular in Bahrain."
After having arrived in the Saudi capital Riyadh earlier this week, Mullen then visited Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
He will also head to Kuwait to participate in ceremonies marking the 20th anniversary of the country's liberation in 1991 from Iraqi occupation.
In Oman, Mullen and Gen. James Mattis, commander of U.S. Central Command, in charge of the wars in Iraq and and Afghanistan, met officials whose identities were not disclosed.
The Hormuz Strait through which 40 percent of the world's oil supply passes is less than 31 miles wide, with Oman to the south and Iran to the north, and Mullen's visit underlines U.S. determination to keep it open.
Iranian commanders have repeatedly threatened to block navigation through the strait, which links the Gulf to the Indian Ocean, if the Islamic republic comes under attack.
Western powers led by the United States suspect Iran is masking a weapons drive under the guise of a civilian atomic program, a charge strongly denied by Iran.
"We've been concerned about Iranian capabilities to impede the flow of oil through the Hormuz straight for a long time," a military official traveling with Mullen told AFP.
The Iranians "certainly would have an initial impact but we do not believe they can close it down for a lengthy period of time."
t"We have very robust naval capabilities in the region, these are international waterways that they don't own and we're very committed to protect them," said the official.
In Bahrain, Mullen will visit the forces stationed in the Fifth Fleet, the major U. S. Navy base that has been in the kingdom for 63 years.
The Gulf archipelago state has been hit by protests calling on the government, headed by King Hamad's uncle Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman who is widely despised by Shiites there, to step down.
Seven people have been killed in a police crackdown on the protesters.
However, the United States has praised the monarchy for taking "positive steps" to reach out to protesters.
The U. S. Navy has also said that the demonstrations have not disrupted American operations in the kingdom.
"As far as Fifth Fleet operations, no, the demonstrations have not had any impact here - we're continuing to conduct our regular business out here," a spokesman for the Fifth Fleet told AFP on Monday.

US Army Ordered Psy-Ops On Own Lawmakers: Report

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Army ordered the illegal use of psychological operations to influence American lawmakers on the Afghanistan war, Rolling Stone magazine reported Thursday, forcing the U.S. commander there to launch an inquiry.
The article said the command of Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, in charge of training Afghan troops, pressured U.S. soldiers specializing in "psy-ops" that normally influence enemy behavior, to manipulate visiting U.S. senators and congressmen - as well as other VIPs and senior foreign officials - into supporting more money and troops for the war.

The report shook up Washington at a time of growing public dissatisfaction with America's longest war, with lawmakers urging a swift investigation of the "disturbing" charges.
Pentagon spokesman Col. David Lapan said war commander Gen. David Petraeus "is preparing to order an investigation" to determine "what actions took place and if any of them was inappropriate or illegal."
The report says a lieutenant colonel told the magazine he had been repeatedly ordered by Caldwell's staff to target senators including 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain, Joe Lieberman, Jack Reed, Al Franken and Carl Levin, to get Caldwell's message across.
Among those the team was told to pressure during a four-month period were Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, Germany's interior minister, and the Czech ambassador to Kabul, according to members of the "information operations" (IO) team and internal documents.
And when the officer sought to bring the operation to a halt, a campaign of retaliation was launched against him, according to the magazine.
"My job in psy-ops is to play with people's heads, to get the enemy to behave the way we want them to behave," Lt. Col. Michael Holmes, leader of the IO unit, told Rolling Stone.
"I'm prohibited from doing that to our own people. When you ask me to try to use these skills on senators and congressman, you're crossing a line."
The magazine also said Caldwell's chief of staff asked Holmes how the general could secretly manipulate the U.S. lawmakers.
"How do we get these guys to give us more people?" the chief of staff demanded. "What do I have to plant inside their heads?"
Reed, a Democrat who sits on key committees with oversight over the conflict, called the charges "serious and disturbing, and they have to be fully investigated."
An inquiry will likely check whether the IO effort was in violation of U.S. law that forbids targeting U.S. nationals with such propaganda campaigns.
Both Reed and Levin, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, denied they had been influenced by the effort.
The report was the second scoop on the military affairs front by the music magazine in under a year.
In 2010, Michael Hastings, the same writer as of Thursday's article, wrote a withering critique of Petraeus' predecessor Gen. Stanley McChrystal and his staff, attributing blunt comments to the commander's staff which led to his ouster.
Hastings wrote that Holmes, who became the subject of an army investigation after e-mailing a military lawyer to address his discomfort with the psy-op orders on U.S. civilians, said Caldwell "seemed far more focused on the Americans and the funding stream than he was on the Afghans.
"We were there to teach and train the Afghans. But for the first four months it was all about the U.S.," he added. "Later he even started talking about targeting the NATO populations."
In response to Holmes's e-mail, military lawyer Capt. John Scott agreed with Holmes and wrote that the "IO doesn't do that," according to the report.
"[Public affairs] works on the hearts and minds of our own citizens and IO works on the hearts and minds of the citizens of other nations," Scott wrote.
"While the twain do occasionally intersect, such intersections ... should be unintentional."
In a statement to the magazine, a Caldwell spokesman "categorically denies the assertion that the command used an Information Operations Cell to influence distinguished visitors."

Boeing Wins U.S. Air Force Tanker Battle

Boeing has won the long-running battle to supply the U.S. Air Force with a new aerial refueling tanker, the service announced today.

The new U.S. Air Force tanker will be based on Boeing's 767 twin-engine widebody airliner. (Boeing)

The initial contract was a fixed-price incentive firm contract valued at over $3.5 billion for KC-X engineering and manufacturing development and the delivery of 18 aircraft, dubbed KC-46As, by 2017. The Air Force will eventually spend an estimated $30 billion to buy 179 planes.

Based on the modern Boeing 767 twin-engine widebody airliner, the new tankers will replace many Eisenhower-era KC-135 aircraft, based on the Boeing 707.
Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn, along with DoD acquisition executive Ashton Carter, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz made the announcement during a briefing at the Pentagon this evening.
In a Feb. 24 statement, the chairman and ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee vowed "to continue the necessary oversight to ensure the evaluation was transparent and fair to each competitor."
"We look forward to receiving more information from the Air Force as we review their decision-making processes. The Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee will hold a hearing on this issue as soon as enough information is publicly available," said the statement by Reps. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., and Adam Smith, D-Wash.
"A Boeing victory means that the company retains a 50-year franchise in being the sole supplier of aerial refueling tankers to the U.S. Air Force. It's worth tens of billions of dollars to the company and it also assures the commercial arm of EADS will not start building airliners in North America," said Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute.
He said that Boeing's victory caught most observers off guard; an EADS victory seemed all but certain.
"The Boeing victory suggests that the Air Force was concerned about the higher cost of building and then operating an A330, which burns a ton more fuel per flight hour than the Boeing aircraft," he said.
Thompson said service officials did not consider the industrial base when making their selection.
"This is purely about the price and performance of the competing aircraft," he said.
The program is likely to be the largest award during the Obama Administration, and a source of steady work for decades.
If EADS decides to protest, the European firm may have the upper hand in a political battle, thanks to Republican control of the House of Representatives and their increased presence in the Senate, said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst at the Teal Group, Fairfax, Va. By contrast, Boeing's political power seems to be waning.
Still, he said, a lengthy battle is all but unavoidable. EADS sees the tanker contract as crucial for breaking into the U.S. military market, Aboulafia said.
Despite EADS' participation, the tanker contract does not signal that the United States is necessarily more open to foreign companies acting as prime contractors for large military contracts.
"I don't think this tells you much about the future access of foreign companies to the U.S. market," Thompson said. "This is a one-shot deal."
The analyst said there were unique factors surrounding the tanker contract.
Because the Air Force wanted a competition, industry sources said, EADS received a number of waivers for several "key performance parameters," including the ability to take off from 7,000-foot runways, fitting into existing hangars, and refueling all types of Air Force aircraft - it reportedly cannot pass fuel to Air Force V-22s. As well, the sources said, the contractor will not be required to integrate government-furnished classified hardware.
EADS and Boeing have been battling over the tanker for nearly a decade. In the early 2000s, the Air Force tried to lease 767-based tankers from Boeing under a sole-source contract, then tried to appease critics by switching to a plan to buy 80 aircraft and lease 20. But opposition to the plan, led by U.S. Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), torpedoed the deal in November 2003.
The tanker contract was further marred with the revelation that a senior Air Force contracting official named Darleen Druyun had steered contracts at inflated prices to Boeing in exchange for employment for herself and family members. The contract was formally ended in January 2006.
In January 2007, the Air Force launched the KC-X tanker competition, drawing bids from Boeing and archrival EADS, which partnered with Northrop Grumman. In February 2008, the Northrop-EADS team won the contract with their Airbus A330-based aircraft.
The following month, however, Boeing protested, claiming the Air Force failed to evaluate the two proposals using the published criteria. That June, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) upheld the protest, which led to the cancellation of the program.
The Defense Department attempted to restart the program, but aborted the attempt because a winner could not be picked before the Bush Administration left office.
The KC-X program was restarted for a third time in September 2009 by Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Though the Air Force controls the selection process, the Office of the Secretary of Defense has been closely monitoring the process. In the new competition, military acquisition officials issued 373 requirements for the tanker, but said that the unit cost of each aircraft would be adjusted to reflect lifecycle cost over 40 years. The Air Force would also judge how effectively the aircraft would meet "warfighter effectiveness."