In the beginning there were the following offerings: – From Europe: Dassault Rafale (France), Saab Gripen (Sweden) and Eurofighter Typhoon (EnglandUK/Germany) – From Russia: Mikoyan MiG-35 – From the US: Lockheed-Martin F-16IN and Boeing F/A-18E/F (initially not invited but still bid by Boeing) 126 aircraft – 18 initial direct purchase, the remainder local manufacture under…
UPDATE (15 Mar) – When does “unanimous” not mean everyone? When there is a minority dissent. Credibility: 1. capable of being believed; believable: a credible statement. 2. worthy of belief or confidence; trustworthy: a credible witness. e.g., “The degree of credibility of the Board of Directors is diminishing by the day.” Apparently the “run silent/run…
The Editorial Board of the USNI enters the fight in a major way: The independence of the Institute is paramount; without that openness, the Institute risks simply becoming an organ of whatever entity, whatever program, is deemed permissible by only a few, whomever those may be. It would be difficult to find a member or…
If you haven’t yet — vote In the mail this past week, one of our readers wrote of something he noticed at the bottom of the email newsletter he’d recently received: The U.S. Naval Institute is an independent forum founded in 1873 to advance the knowledge of sea power, to exchange ideas on national security…
The ongoing furor over the Board of Director’s attempt at a mid-watch hijacking of the Institute’s mission can, unfortunately, overshadow the very good work being done down in the trenches by the editorial board and legion of ink-stained wretches (and I use that term affectionately) in the trenches. Before re-directing to the BoD’s hi-jinks, I’d…
From comments posted to an article in Foreign Policy (online) yesterday against changing the USNI’s mission statement: As you are aware, since last summer I have had many misgivings about the direction of our board actions. I was skeptical about the ‘advocacy’ word going into the mission statement from the first. With the way this…
Russia has evidently opted to proceed with sales of the SS-NX-26/Yakhont ASCM to the Syrians. The intent was voiced by Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov over the weekend. “The contract,” he told journalists in Vladivostok, “is in progress.” The minister added his country was also bent on carrying through on promises to deliver several Bastion…
…and dissent become heterodoxy? As noted previously, the USNI Board of Directors is asking the membership to approve a new mission statement that changes “the Mission of the Naval Institute to ‘advocating the necessity of global seapower.’” because “The Board believes that the United States must support and maintain a strong, global naval capability and…
The oldest and perhaps most storied of the shuttle fleet, Discovery launched on her final mission today to deliver a final module to the U.S. segment of the International Space Station, the Leonardo Permanent Multipurpose Module, as well as the first humanoid robot to fly in space, Robonaut2. Named for the ships used by Henry…
The Board of Directors at the US Naval Institue (of which, full disclosure, I am a Life member) has evidently determined that the “mission statement” that has served the organization for 138 years is in need of an overhaul. Norman Polmar disagrees: I am writing to you–fellow members of the U.S. Naval Institute–to urge that…
