The Biden administration has launched a whole-of-government campaign to rebuild America’s flagging industrial might. Many federal agencies are involved, but the Department of Defense could end up being the most important. America’s military is a huge source of demand for complex industrial products, and the biggest defense contractors are serial innovators. Spending on national security enjoys broad bipartisan support. The military is pushing suppliers to adopt the latest digital production tools, and routinely enters into public-private partnerships. I have written [ Read More…]

RTX Chairman & CEO Greg Hayes recently told the Financial Times that US companies can’t decouple from China–they rely too much on suppliers there–but they can reduce risks. The Biden administration seems to share that view. It has taken steps to reduce dependence on China for items like drugs and strategic minerals, but it isn’t inclined to sever relations. Some big American companies, though, seem slow in recognizing the sea change in relations currently under way. For instance, Microsoft continues [ Read More…]

In recent years, the U.S. Army’s top modernization priority has been long-range precision fires (LRPF). As the war in Ukraine demonstrates, this was a prescient decision. But when it comes to addressing the need for an entirely new portfolio of fires systems, the Army has only solved part of the problem. In the next year or two, the Army expects to field several new fires systems, including the Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), Strategic Mid-Range Fires (SMRF), and Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon [ Read More…]

The Navy wants to develop a next-generation destroyer 40% bigger than its existing Burke class. That isn’t going to happen. The Congressional Budget Office estimates each of the next-gen DDG(X) destroyers would cost over $3 billion. Populating an adequately-sized surface fleet at that price would be exceedingly unlikely. The service needs to stay on the path of continuously improving its Burke class to provide future warfighting gains at an affordable price. I have written a commentary for Forbes here.

In his 1981 inaugural address President Reagan warned of those who “believe that society has become too complex to be managed by self-rule, that government by an elite group is superior to government for, by, and of the people.” Today, the Biden administration has started to put in place such elitist rule and Exhibit A is the agenda and leadership of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In fact, Biden Administration nominees will likely have control of the FTC well past [ Read More…]

The Air Force is soliciting proposals for its Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program, which will develop a successor to the twin-engine F-22 fighter. Almost everything about the program is secret, but you don’t need to be an aerospace engineer (like Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall) to figure out what the key design features will be. They are defined by the nature of the threat and the state of the art in relevant technologies. I have written a commentary for [ Read More…]

The war in Ukraine has been consuming munitions, both conventional arms and so-called “smart” weapons, at a prodigious rate. The use rate, particularly for the more capable (but also more complex and expensive) long-range precision weapons, has far exceeded pre-war inventories and the limits of current production capabilities. In a prospective conflict with a great power adversary, the United States will need more munitions of all types, but particularly long-range precision strike systems. Experts have warned that the U.S. military [ Read More…]

Long considered a Beltway backwater, the Commerce Department has become one of the central stages of national security policymaking. With the announcement that it would begin accepting applications for $52 billion in semiconductor subsidies that Congress approved last year as part of the bipartisan CHIPS Act, the department’s weight as a major player in American national security is growing. Commerce Secretary Raimondo says the CHIPS Act is “a historic opportunity to unleash the next generation of American innovation, protect our national security, [ Read More…]

Last week’s Paris Air Show was punctuated by unusual statements from F-35 airframe maker Lockheed Martin and engine maker Pratt & Whitney. The statements seemed to indicate a disagreement over how necessary upgrades to the F-35 engine should be implemented. However, there is less to this exchange than meets the eye. Both companies share the government’s view that an upgraded engine is needed, and Lockheed has made clear it is agnostic on what solution should be embraced. As a practical [ Read More…]

Last week the European Parliament endorsed sweeping restrictions on artificial intelligence while the EU’s chief regulator proposed a partial breakup of Google. This is becoming a pattern for Europe, assailing US tech companies in ways that hobble their ability to compete–often on the basis of imaginary risks. Because the technologies involved are central to national security, the pattern of regulatory impositions on US companies raises questions about whether America can stay ahead of China–its main rival for global influence. It [ Read More…]