Archives
Recent
May 2011
My critical commentary on commercial launch provider SpaceX appearing at Forbes.com last week attracted 11,000 readers and a handful of outraged responses from company supporters. I have followed up with a second commentary this week focusing on how SpaceX's track record compares with that of more
. . . Read more
Date:
5/31/2011
It seems as if the only thing a majority in the U.S. Senate can agree on is that they do not like any of the proposed budget plans. That is, until the subject of the sale of F-16s to Taiwan came up. In a rare demonstration of bipartisanship, and good sense, the co-chairs of the Senate Taiwan Caucus
. . . Read more
Date:
5/31/2011
Monday, May 30 is Memorial Day. Originally called Decoration Day, it was first observed in 1868 to honor the sacrifice of those who had fallen on both sides in the Civil War. At the height of its observance, the graves of veterans throughout the nation were decorated each year with a fresh U.S.
. . . Read more
Date:
5/27/2011
The current fight over the Obama administration’s efforts to shift private sector work into the federal government has focused to a large extent on people, or as the government calls them Full Time Equivalents (FTEs). After an enthusiastic beginning, the process has come to a halt, at least with
. . . Read more
Date:
5/27/2011
The United States and its coalition partners in Afghanistan are waging an intense struggle against the insurgents’ weapon of choice, the improvised explosive device (IED). The anti-IED fight is a complex affair that involves measures to protect vehicles and dismounted warriors, the detection and
. . . Read more
Date:
5/26/2011
All the pundits are certain that the dominant issue in the upcoming 2012 election will be the state of the economy. No doubt this will be a key determinant of winners and losers. But a sleeper issue that may come to the fore is the role of the United States in the world and our willingness to maintain
. . . Read more
Date:
5/25/2011
One thing's for sure about nuclear deterrence: it isn't likely to work if you don't know you're being attacked. That's why Lockheed Martin's disclosure on May 24 that the first Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) satellite has reached geosynchronous orbit was so important: because without it, the
. . . Read more
Date:
5/24/2011
When I was growing up, one of the neatest pieces of comic book technology was Wonder Woman’s invisible airplane. Not only could the bad guys not detect the aircraft’s approach but Wonder Woman had complete situational awareness. Both airplane and helicopter pilots have long wished for an invisible
. . . Read more
Date:
5/24/2011
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is betting billions of dollars on the success of so-called commercial launch providers such as SpaceX. And money isn't the only thing it's betting: with the Space Shuttle retiring and its planned successor canceled, there won't be much left to NASA's
. . . Read more
Date:
5/23/2011
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has shown himself to be the most thoughtful leader of the Department of Defense in at least a generation. He challenged each of the military services to rethink the value of their most sacred totems -- aircraft carriers, stealth fighters, main battle tanks and
. . . Read more
Date:
5/23/2011
The Department of Defense is struggling to figure out how it will absorb its share of the $400 billion in budget reductions called for by President Obama. DoD has sought refuge in a comprehensive strategic review intended to weed out redundancies and irrelevant activities and find additional efficiencies.
. . . Read more
Date:
5/20/2011
The maritime strategy web-site www.informationdissemination.net yesterday put in the public domain rumors about the new lineup of joint military leaders that have been swirling around the Pentagon for weeks. The site reported
. . . Read more
Date:
5/20/2011
For the past two years the Department of Defense (DoD) has been pursuing a mirage. This false vision is that the Pentagon can both save money and perform better by replacing a significant fraction of its private contractor workforce with government employees. The Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates,
. . . Read more
Date:
5/19/2011
Over the past decade, the U.S. military have mastered the fine art of counterinsurgency, or COIN. When the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan began, the military had neither the theories nor capabilities to practice counterinsurgency. Slowly, painfully, it developed the doctrine, strategy and tactics,
. . . Read more
Date:
5/17/2011
Actually, this posting is about the F-35 fighter. But the headline is correct -- the nation's military services really are going to spend over $25 billion on music bands in the coming years. In fact, if you add inflation and indirect costs like retirement benefits, the "then-year" cost of military
. . . Read more
Date:
5/17/2011
After a decade of development, the family of digital communications devices known as the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS, or "Jitters") is approaching production. The JTRS architecture features "software reprogrammable" radios that can add new types of signals simply by downloading computer code
. . . Read more
Date:
5/16/2011
We are about to see the results of the Army's latest effort to fix its broken acquisition system. The Army currently is evaluating three proposals for its new Ground Combat Vehicle (GCV). Last year, confronting the likelihood of a procurement disaster, the Army withdrew its Request for Proposal
. . . Read more
Date:
5/16/2011
The White House has decided not to comment on a looney complaint brought by the National Labor Relations Board that argues Boeing shouldn't be allowed to open an aircraft plant in South Carolina because building such a facility in a right-to-work state could undercut the bargaining position of labor
. . . Read more
Date:
5/13/2011
Over the past several years the U.S. government has pursued a policy of aggressively promoting the sale of advanced military equipment to the Middle East and South Asia. Just last year the administration agreed to a massive arms sale to Saudi Arabia involving some 84 F-15 fighters, Apache and Black
. . . Read more
Date:
5/13/2011
Deputy Secretary of Defense William Lynn claims that the Department of Defense (DoD) is taking a long-term view of its defense industrial base, one that seeks to ensure that the private sector remains profitable. According to an
. . . Read more
Date:
5/12/2011
After five years of being told by two different administrations that its extra engine for the F-35 fighter is a waste of money, General Electric still can't take "no" for an answer. Its latest ploy to secure multi-billion-dollar contracts from the Pentagon for the superfluous propulsion system
. . . Read more
Date:
5/12/2011
The successful raid that killed Osama bin Laden has generated all kinds of public and professional interest. One of the most intriguing aspects of the operation was the use of what appears to be a modified MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. Having suffered an airworthiness accident on landing, the Navy
. . . Read more
Date:
5/11/2011
The Air Force is planning to buy a "light attack and armed reconnaissance" aircraft for use by U.S. and foreign pilots in counter-insurgency warfare. At about $10 million per plane, it's probably the cheapest combat aircraft the service will buy in this century -- which is one reason why few politicians
. . . Read more
Date:
5/11/2011
Cyberwarfare is one of the few areas of national-security spending likely to grow in coming years. Not surprisingly, every major military contractor in the U.S. is trying to crowd into the field, with companies like BAE Systems and Raytheon aggressively buying up smaller players. However, the cyberwarfare
. . . Read more
Date:
5/10/2011
The wave of revolutions that swept Europe and eventually much of the world between the late Eighteenth and mid-Twentieth Centuries reflected the desires of the economically and politically disenfranchised for a measure of power. The current tsunami of unrest that is engulfing much of the Middle
. . . Read more
Date:
5/10/2011
How are the U.S. military and intelligence communities being rewarded for their spectacular success in getting Osama bin Laden? There has been lots of praise for the enormous effort undertaken by intelligence analysts to find and fix bin Laden’s location. The boys from SEAL Team Six got to meet
. . . Read more
Date:
5/9/2011
After a decade of operating the world's largest intranet with a single contractor in charge, the U.S. Navy has decided to replace it with something more fashionable. It plans to unbundle the functions required to sustain the network and hold a series of competitions each year to see who can offer
. . . Read more
Date:
5/9/2011
You'd think that after spending a decade adapting to threats like improvised explosive devices, the U.S. Army would be a little more imaginative about what kinds of challenges future enemies might pose. Well, no such luck. Having allocated over a billion dollars to develop defenses against future
. . . Read more
Date:
5/6/2011
In April, 2009 as part of his effort to change the culture in the Department of Defense, Secretary Robert Gates cancelled the competition for the VH-71, a new presidential helicopter. The preceding competition produced a vehicle that was overdesigned and way overpriced. As Gates said at the time,
. . . Read more
Date:
5/5/2011
This week's Bloomberg Businessweek contains the latest adulatory media profile of Elon Musk, the California entrepreneur who is said to be shaking up the space-launch industry. As usual, the profile is long on Musk's opinions and short on any details about how his space business is actually
. . . Read more
Date:
5/5/2011
This morning New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told Today Show host Matt Lauer what he thought the main lesson of Osama bin Laden's death was: We have endured the biggest attack in our history and emerged "stronger than ever." If only it were so. The numbers tell a different story. On the
. . . Read more
Date:
5/4/2011
Remember when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991? Nobody was more surprised than the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). After the fact, the CIA tried to claim that it had provided evidence of a crisis in the Kremlin. But the history of our intelligence estimates proves the contrary. Even as then
. . . Read more
Date:
5/4/2011
President Obama deserves credit for not taking the easy way out when it came to ordering the “hit” on Osama bin Laden. He was offered the options of an air strike or the classic Hellfire missile from a Predator drone through the window. Instead, he decided to go with the much riskier option of a
. . . Read more
Date:
5/3/2011
With Osama bin Laden now gone to his reward -- probably not the place where 72 virgins await him -- defense contractors must confront the possibility of a major downturn in military demand over the coming years. The Obama Administration has already canceled four of the top twelve weapons programs
. . . Read more
Date:
5/3/2011
The carefully synchronized assault on Osama bin Laden's sanctuary in Pakistan was a great tactical success. In the broader scheme of things, though, America's crusade to find and neutralize the world's most notorious terrorist has been a strategic failure. By taking ten years to track down Al
. . . Read more
Date:
5/2/2011
So said Michael Corleone in the movie, The Godfather, to convince his brother and Mafia associates that it was okay to assassinate a corrupt police captain. This week, within the span of a few days, first NATO and then the United States conducted strikes that killed hostile leadership targets.
. . . Read more
Date:
5/2/2011