Defense
How Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Program Became Boringly Successful (from The National Interest)
The Joint Strike Fighter program has become boringly successful. Both the U.S. Marine Corps and Air Force have declared initial operating capability. Equally important, both have a sufficient number of aircraft to do the development of operational conc ...
Are Tanks Obsolete?: YouTube Video Makes The Case For Active Protection Systems (from The National Interest)
A YouTube video of an M-1 tank being destroyed by an ISIS-fired anti-tank guided missile makes an irrefutable case for the U.S. Army acquiring active protection systems (APS) now. The Army says all the right things about wanting APS, but its current p ...
What Defense Downturn? Why Military Contractors Are Thriving Despite Lower Pentagon Spending (From Forbes)
The U.S. defense industry is entering the eighth year of a prolonged downturn in Pentagon demand for weapons, but you would never know that to look at the third-quarter earnings releases of the biggest companies. Sales are rising and earnings are stro ...
Five Reasons A President Trump Might Not Increase Defense Spending (From National Interest)
Donald Trump is a nationalist, but he is no militarist. Observers should not assume that because he is so forceful in his public pronouncements on national security he is certain to raise military spending if elected president. In fact, there are mul ...
What The National WWII Museum Can Teach Americans About The Price Of Freedom
They are dying at a rate of 500 a day – veterans of WWII. Only 5 percent of the more than 16 million men and women who served in uniform are still alive. With their passing will end an era. In addition, the close, personal connection between the Grea ...
‘Accepting Risk’ In National Defense Is No Longer Acceptable (from The National Interest)
Washington is a city that loves euphemisms. The Department of Defense is the master of speaking in code words. The worst of the lot is the term “accepting risk.” Accepting risk is a legitimate term taken from the field of risk management. However, the ...
One Day’s Worth Of Federal Spending Per Year Can Avert U.S. Military Defeat In Europe (From National Interest)
The next war in Europe might be coming soon, and it could be largely an Army show. Geography would make it difficult for the sea services to get to Eastern Europe where the conflict is likely to unfold, and the Air Force would be hobbled by a very den ...
Five Think Tanks Unveil Latest Fashions In Warfighting (From National Interest)
Fashions come and go in all walks of life, including the defense business. This week, five of Washington's best-known think tanks revealed their views on what's in and what's out in modern warfare. It's sort of like Fashion Week for warfighters. Wha ...
U.S. Air Force T-X Procurement Needs To Focus On Time As Well As Cost (from National Interest)
While fixed pricing and the prohibition on concurrent development will protect the Air Force from major cost increase on the upcoming T-X procurements, they do not address the danger of schedule slippage. Any delay in delivering the T-X will cost the A ...
The Hidden Defect In U.S. Nuclear Strategy That Could Spell America’s Doom (From National Interest)
Many Americans think the U.S. homeland is defended against nuclear attack. It isn't, except for a modest network on the West Coast designed mainly for dealing with North Korea. Washington decided during the Cold War that it would rely on the threat o ...