Blog Archives

EXAMINING THE ORIGINS OF US-SINO CONFLICT; EXAMINING THE TRENDS IN CHINA'S ACQUISITION SPENDING & HOW 'DEFENSE ONE' WEBSITE GETS AN UPGRADE

5/31/2019

The Real Origins of the U.S.-China Cold War
By Charles Edel & Hal Brands, Foreign Policy: "The only way to win the next superpower showdown is to understand what exactly caused it."

China’s Defence Spending: A Question of Perspective?
By Meia Nouwens, International Institute for Strategic Studies: "As China faces domestic challenges to achieving the 'China Dream', broader national strategic ambitions will have a significant bearing on the country's spending priorities."

IISS and Defense One launch new partnership
The IISS is pleased to announce the launch of our new editorial partnership with Defense One, the go-to destination for news on US defence and security. We launch with a column on naval tasks in the Indo-Pacific, with anaylsis by IISS Senior Fellow for Naval Forces and Maritime Security, Nick Childs. This regular column will draw upon our Military Balance+ data to inform policymakers on developments in defence.

Breaking Defense Relaunches: New Design, Features and Staff

Henry Kissinger is still brilliant — and still wrong about China
(The Hill) This past week at the Wilson Center’s Kissinger Institute, Henry Kissinger’s former associates met to discuss “Kissinger on Kissinger,” an oral history by the former secretary of State.

A flat defense budget will prove fatal for military transformation, explains Rick Bergerin a Defense News op-ed. The advanced capabilities pursued by transformation advocates — artificial intelligence, hypersonic weapons, and advanced networking — will prove necessary, if not sufficient, for deterring high-end conflict with China and Russia. But financing these new capabilities by cutting existing weapons systems will never work. While some trade-offs make sense, policymakers should accept that the need for new weapons systems is an additional burden on the Pentagon, unable to be met through rearranging programs under a flat budget. Finish here.

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FIXING THE NAVY FAST MEANS BEING ABLE TO ENGAGE ENEMY WAR SHIPS; WHAT'S THE IMPACT OF FLAT BUDGETS ON MODERNIZATION; THE F35'S PERFORMANCE MATTERS

5/24/2019

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1,000 days of continuing resolutions in 10 years
Mackenzie Eaglen and Rick Berger | AEI.org
If the Pentagon is forced to operate under a long-term continuing resolution or sequestration in 2020, no one should be surprised at the significant reduction in military readiness and the financial waste that will occur.

Mackenzie Eaglen and Rick Berger write: Former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said a year ago that military had operated under 1,000 days of debilitating continuing resolutions (CR) over the past decade. Yet another continuing resolution looms again this fall. Even as Congress moves ahead with its spending bills for the Defense Department, the odds remain low that both parties can agree to an overall spending level by the start of the fiscal year still. – American Enterprise Institute

When U.S. Navy and Marine F-35 Pilots Most Need Performance
By David B. Larter, Defense News: "The U.S. Navy’s and Marine Corps’ F-35s become unpredictable to handle when executing the kind of extreme maneuvers a pilot would use in a dogfight or while avoiding a missile, according to documents exclusively obtained by Defense News."

Navy's New Anti-Ship Missile Dramatically Boosts Firepower
By Loren Thompson, Forbes: " ... do you realize that many of the Navy’s surface combatants—its frigates, destroyers and cruisers—have almost no ability to engage hostile warships?"

A Flat Budget Will Prove Fatal for Military Transformation
By Rick Berger, Defense News: "This month, the House Appropriations Committee kicked off the annual process of congressional oversight of the Pentagon by passing its bill to fund the military for fiscal 2020. While the committee signaled willingness among the Democratic caucus to support a $733 billion budget, its bill makes clear that the Pentagon’s 2020 budget request is anything but the “masterpiece” that acting Secretary of Defense Pat Shanahan once promised."

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LIGHT ATTACK AIR POWER FOR COIN, HOW THE AIR FORCE ONLY WANTS SEXY BIG BUDGETS FOR THE LONG WAR & CAN THE ARMY HANDLE THE MIDDLE EAST?

5/20/2019

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Close Air Support Timeline Cut; Wait For Tech Was Too Long
By Paul McLeary
For too long, the CAS program “was falling on deaf ears, because it didn’t quite fit exactly in somebody’s nice little picture of a program, and it wasn’t funded” within a traditional acquisition program.

Air Force Preps Light Attack Plane for Combat Missions
By Kris Osborn, Warrior Maven: "Despite the Air Force’s stated intention and the widespread assumption that a low-cost off-the-shelf Light Attack airplane would primarily perform counterinsurgency missions, it seems entirely conceivable that the plane could have limited uses for major power warfare as well."

Sikorsky Receives $1.3B For 12 CH-53Ks
By Lee Hudson, Aviation Week: "The U.S. Marine Corps awarded a $1.3 billion contract for 12 Sikorsky CH-53K heavy-lift helicopters May 17 while the program still needs to flight test a remedy of a critical design flaw by the end of this year."
SOCOM’s Iron Man Suit – A Worthy Moonshot
By Stew Magnuson, National Defense Magazine: “The Defense Department’s top procurement official is taking aim at watchdog-type laws that are put in place to discourage corruption in government.”

Upgrading Our Military’s Heavy Vertical Lift Capability
By George Landrith, RealClearDefense: "It is time to upgrade our military's heavy-lift helicopter capabilities. The current workhorse, the CH-47 Chinook, has served our country since 1962."

A Smart Acquisition Strategy That Can Revitalize the U.S. Amphibious Warfare Fleet
By Dan Gouré, RealClearDefense: "The Nation’s amphibious warfare fleet is in need of revitalization through the acquisition of new, more capable ships faster."

Army Can Manage Both Mideast & Great Powers: Sec. Esper
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
The Army can cope with regional dangers like Iran even as it refocuses on Russia and China, the secretary said. In fact, he said, the Army’s controversial modernization program will help with both sets of threats.

Across the Department of Defense, organizations and agencies want to transport parts and ready-to-go systems to field units on demand. For the Army’s sustainment community, this means keeping up with the dynamic pace of deployments to by placing qualified workers closer to the battlefield or assembling reserve systems ahead of time. – C4ISRNET

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NAVY TEMPO HURTS READINESS & THE CHINESE SEEK TO DOMINATE THE ARTIC TO HIT USA

5/16/2019

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Navy Wary of Growing Costs While It Ramps Up Ops
By Paul McLeary
The Navy is adding more ships as quickly as possible, even as it grapples with how it’s going to pay the costs to keep them afloat once it gets them, a top officer said.

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MARINE CORPS IDENTITY, ENDING THE WAR IN THE AFRICAN HORN & BREAKING DOWN WMD SILOS

5/14/2019

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Marine Corps Identity from the Historical Perspective by Mark Folse

Countering WMD in the Digital Age: Breaking Down Bureaucratic Silos in a Brave New World by Natasha E. Bajema

How to End the Civil War in Somalia: Negotiate with al-Shabaab by Jason Hartwig

An Assessment of the U.S. Punitive Expedition of 1916
By Roger Soiset, Divergent Options: "Prior to the 9/11 attacks was Pancho Villa’s 1916 attack on Columbus, New Mexico. Large-scale efforts to capture Villa failed. Border violence continued until the success of a more focused U.S. response in 1919. Today the U.S.-Mexico border remains unsecured and discussions continue to determine the best approach."

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WAR OF ACQUISITION REFORMS: HOW VIABLE IS COMMERCIALIZATION, HOW THE ARMY DOES ACQUISITION & THE ENDURING CHARACTER OF THE MARINE CORPS

5/1/2019

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Army Big 6 Gets $10B More Over 2021-2025

Will alternative acquisition methods become the norm?
(Federal Times) Recent research from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) raises some important questions about the direction and focus of Defense Department research and development funding.

3 takeaways from Thornberry’s 2020 DoD reform agenda
(Defense News) After years of pushing new reforms for the Pentagon, the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee wants to ensure defense officials are following them.

Building a 21st Century Defense Acquisition Workforce by Peter Levine

War Of the Acquisition Reformers: 809 Panel Defends New Commercial Approach
By David Drabkin
When Washington heavyweights like Peter Levine, former Democratic staff director of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Bill Greenwalt, former deputy undersecretary of Defense for industrial policy and longtime Republican acquisition expert on the SASC, say you got something wrong, people listen. That is especially the case if you were the folks who Levine and…

How To Make Sure The Army’s Big Six Get Built
By James Tinsley
If the Army wants to get its Big Six right, it must talk, and talk and talk with Congress and the press and industry. And be ready to drop failures.

The Marine Corps' Evolving Character and Enduring Purpose by Gordon Emmanuel and Justin Gray

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pentagon acquisition reform

EXAMINING THE ORIGINS OF US-SINO CONFLICT; EXAMINING THE TRENDS IN CHINA'S ACQUISITION SPENDING & HOW 'DEFENSE ONE' WEBSITE GETS AN UPGRADE

FIXING THE NAVY FAST MEANS BEING ABLE TO ENGAGE ENEMY WAR SHIPS; WHAT'S THE IMPACT OF FLAT BUDGETS ON MODERNIZATION; THE F35'S PERFORMANCE MATTERS

LIGHT ATTACK AIR POWER FOR COIN, HOW THE AIR FORCE ONLY WANTS SEXY BIG BUDGETS FOR THE LONG WAR & CAN THE ARMY HANDLE THE MIDDLE EAST?

NAVY TEMPO HURTS READINESS & THE CHINESE SEEK TO DOMINATE THE ARTIC TO HIT USA

MARINE CORPS IDENTITY, ENDING THE WAR IN THE AFRICAN HORN & BREAKING DOWN WMD SILOS

WAR OF ACQUISITION REFORMS: HOW VIABLE IS COMMERCIALIZATION, HOW THE ARMY DOES ACQUISITION & THE ENDURING CHARACTER OF THE MARINE CORPS

DOD ACQUISITION REFORM

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