WoI Def Sec Brief

Defense

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta again forcefully advocated against automatic defense cuts that would occur should the deficit-cutting supercommittee fail to work out its own plan, lawmakers said Tuesday. - Politico

The Pentagon’s sweeping strategy review will examine a Navy plan to move an aircraft carrier from Virginia to Florida, according to Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert. – The Hill

The U.S. Defense Department will brief F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) manufacturer Lockheed Martin within the next two days on the results of its "should-cost" review of the $382 billion stealth fighter program. – Defense News

Company officials, about to enter negotiations for the fifth tranche of low rate initial production (LRIP 5), say the dramatic reduction over the past 18 months in the amount of time it takes Lockheed mechanics to put together one of the complex stealth fighters is a sign the program is recovering from the crisis it faced in February 2010.  – AOL Defense

As part of its ongoing export control reform initiative, the Obama administration is preparing to introduce new guidelines for the export of military aircraft, according to government and industry sources. – Defense News

As their annual budgets shrink, Pentagon officials must “adapt” their decisionmaking to ensure its manufacturing sector remains strong, and they even plan to “tailor” investments to protect some “niche firms,” Brett Lambert, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for manufacturing and industrial base policy, told a House Armed Services subcommittee. – The Hill

Intelligence

The Pentagon is offering field commanders control of counterintelligence operations to cope with the never-ceasing efforts by countries such as China, Iran and Israel to gain access to classified information and technology. – AOL Defense

Nuclear Weapons

According to scientists and officials, the United States’ weapons laboratories, armed with some of the fastest computers on the planet, are peering ever deeper into the mystery of how thermonuclear explosions occur, gaining an understanding that in some ways goes beyond what was learned from explosive tests, which ended in 1992. – Washington Post

Nonproliferation

Josh Rogin reports: As congressional budget battles loom, 22 leading nuclear arms control advocates have joined in an effort to urge President Barack Obama to protect funds for nuclear non-proliferation and securing of loose nuclear material. – The Cable

The War

Lawyers representing detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, say authorities at the military base have begun reading privileged attorney-client communication — in a sharp break with past practice. – Washington Post

Andrew Krepinevich writes: For a relatively small effort on their part, in short, America's enemies could potentially impose enormous costs on its undersea economy, including loss of energy resources, damaged infrastructure and environmental degradation…Given the stakes involved, just as the U.S. and its allies developed the forces, capabilities and methods needed to defend their economic assets at sea during the Battle of the Atlantic, a similar effort is needed now with respect to America's undersea economic interests. The alternative is to hope for the best—and hope is not a strategy. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)

Cybersecurity

At a global conference on Internet security, the U.S. and U.K. set out principles they hope will form the basis of international cooperation in Web governance, in which states would work together on issues such as security and copyright protection without imposing new restrictions on users. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)

U.S. and British officials argued against global regulation of the Internet on Tuesday, telling an international conference in London that transparency, diversity and innovation on the Web are key to the prosperity and freedom it brings. – Washington Times

Courtesy of Major Crispin Burke at Wings Over Iraq and the chief hoochie at GrEaT sAtAn"S gIrLfRiEnD