US Navy – This $4.5 billion piece of next-gen naval hardware is already obsolete – by design. Welcome aboard the flexible technology platform called the USS Ronald Reagan.

• Wired: The Best Defense Is a Good Upgrade

US Coast Guard – For decades the helicopters of the U.S. Coast Guard–looked upon by an admiring public for their rescue service along the nation’s coastlines–carried no armament and comported in the manner of the unarmed London Bobbies of yore. But like bobbies–who took up bearing arms in recent years to counter increasing violence on London’s streets–the Coast Guard’s helicopters are being equipped with small arms to enable them to meet their new post-9/11 homeland defense responsibilities.

• Sea Power: Armed and Unafraid: Coast Guard Helicopters Acquire Machine Guns

Background – Iraq – John Keegan on why Iraq is not another Vietnam.

• Daily Telegraph: Iraq is not another Vietnam, but the coalition needs more men