Given the growing threats posed by Russia and China to U.S. security and tightening defense budgets, it makes sense to protect highly successful acquisition programs wherever possible, if only as a hedge against uncertainty. One such program is the Coast Guard’s Legend-class National Security Cutter (NSC). Despite the demonstrated value of the NSC, strong bipartisan Congressional support for these ships, and the fact that the NSC supports thousands of high paying manufacturing jobs across the country, the Coast Guard is [ Read More…]

The U.S. Army’s competition to find a successor for the Bradley fighting vehicle is attracting some heavy hitters from industry. The most unusual team is an alliance of truck-maker Oshkosh and South Korean industrial conglomerate Hanwha, offering an evolved version of Hanwha’s K21 vehicle. What makes the team unusual is that Oshkosh has never built a tracked combat vehicle and Hanwha has a very minimal footprint in the U.S. defense market. The idea they would be able to best world-class [ Read More…]

In an era of great power competition, the U.S. military has had to relearn a number of strategic facts. Perhaps the most important of these is the central role that sealift has played in the United States’ ability to project power abroad. During the Cold War, the U.S. was able to not only deploy large forces overseas but move and sustain entire armies around the world. Today, 90 percent of U.S. forces are based on CONUS. They will have to [ Read More…]

After protracted domestic unrest in 2020 in the form of massive protests attempting to oust Belarus’ president Alyaksandr Lukashenka, the country’s government is teetering on the verge of collapse. Moscow has rushed in to fill the vacuum. Lukashenka has suddenly fallen in line with Moscow’s agenda, despite years of resistance to encroaching Russian economic influence. Now it is probable that Russia is facilitating a soft takeover of the former Soviet republic. Moscow’s twenty-first-century ambitions to expand its sphere of influence [ Read More…]

Boeing has issued the first diversity report on its workforce ever produced in the company’s 105-year history. It showed that 22.9% of workers were female, including 31.8% of executives. Relative to the general population, Asian Americans are statistically over-represented among the ranks of Boeing workers at all levels, while African Americans and Latinos are under-represented. The company is committing to a series of inclusiveness initiatives aimed at raising the level of African American employment while fashioning a culture that is [ Read More…]

The U.S. Army is pursuing development initiatives that could provide it with long-range fires capable of precisely targeting enemy assets a thousand or more miles away. Some air-power proponents don’t like the idea, saying it replicates capabilities already resident in the heavy bomber force. However, there are numerous reasons why the Army initiatives would be value-added in future conflicts, not the least of which is the declining survivability of bombers in contested air space. It may well be that the [ Read More…]

The deterioration of Turkey’s role in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) means Greece is now effectively the alliance’s southern flank. Because of the somewhat outsized nature of this role for a small country, Greece needs a more survivable fighter to counter potential moves by Russia and Turkey. Such a warplane will be the anchor of allied airpower in the eastern Mediterranean. That makes the decision to sell the F-35 stealth fighter jet to Greece a relatively easy one. Read the [ Read More…]

For the U.S. Army to win a high-intensity conflict, it will require indirect-fire systems with additional range, greater precision, and enhanced maneuverability. To that end, the Army is investing in upgrading and modernizing its artillery. One element of this program is replacing towed 155mm artillery in the Stryker Brigade Combat Teams with a truck-mounted system. The Army did not have the time or resources to undertake a new start program. Instead, it went on a global search for existing designs [ Read More…]

The U.S. Navy’s plan to develop a successor to the Arleigh Burke destroyer has received a firm rebuff from Congress. Authorizing and appropriating committees contend that (1) the acquisition plan is not clear, (2) lack of clarity is a threat to the shipbuilding industrial base, and (3) the service should consider buying more Burke-class vessels for the time being. Their skepticism is understandable, because the Burke is an exceptionally versatile warship, and the Navy hasn’t made a persuasive case about [ Read More…]

Lockheed Martin is proposing to merge with Aerojet Rocketdyne, one of the two remaining producers of rocket engines in the U.S. On balance, the combination would be good for America’s military. First, it would preserve competition in a vital sector where suppliers have been disappearing. Second, Aerojet is sure to be bought by somebody, and a different kind of buyer could do damage to the defense industrial base. Third, there is a relevant precedent in the 2018 merger of Northrop [ Read More…]