LexNextThe Lexington
Policy Blog
- Why The U.S. Needs A Third Site For National Missile Defense (From Forbes)
The U.S. currently has two sites dedicated to defending the American homeland against ballistic missile attack. The major site is at Fort Greely in Alaska. A much smaller site is at Vandenberg AFB in California. The Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency says that it has no requirement for an additional site, but that’s because it has no plan to defeat a [ Read More…]
- Rebecca L. Grant, Ph.D.
- Superhornets Strike Back. The World’s Just Watched A Turnaround In Tactics Worthy Of A Hollywood Thriller (From Fox News)
On Thursday night, over 100 weapons struck 60 targets in 16 Houthi rebel areas across Yemen. The scope of the strike on 16 different areas tells me that U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has been watching the Houthis and developing targets for months. At the center of the action was the F/A-18EF Superhornet. The Superhornets carry advanced weapons like the satellite-guided Joint Direct [ Read More…]
- Paul Steidler
- GOP Senate Dysfunction Aids Progressives Controlling The Federal Trade Commission (From The Hill)
Republican Senators gave Senator Elizabeth Warren and progressive ideologues running the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) an early Christmas present by failing to confirm three well-qualified nominees to be commissioners. This unforced error shows that Republicans can be as dysfunctional in the Senate as in the House. As a result, the FTC, which is by law supposed to be bipartisan, continues [ Read More…]
- What Would The U.S. Defense Posture Look Like In A Second Trump Presidency? (From Forbes)
Former President Donald Trump has a decent shot at winning reelection in 2024. Contrary to popular perception, that would not portend an unpredictable presidency, at least when it comes to defense. Trump has bedrock convictions about war and peace that would shape his military posture. Among other things, he believes in peace through strength, nuclear firepower rather than arms control, prioritizing the China threat, avoiding over-reliance on allies, staying out of regional conflicts, and using long-range weapons as an alternative [ Read More…]
- America Will Have To Heavily Arm NATO’s Six Frontline States If Ukraine Falters—Especially Finland (From RealClearDefense)
Amid the chaos of last year’s House of Representatives Speaker fight, Congressional aid to Ukraine became a casualty. When Kevin McCarthy, a supporter of the Ukraine war effort, was ousted, that support was not shared by his successors and several of his colleagues. But what that faction in Congress fails to acknowledge or understand is that it is infinitely more dangerous for Ukraine to be defeated and have Russia on the doorstep of the West. If Ukraine’s efforts are exhausted [ Read More…]
- Military Threats Are Growing, But Military Spending May Not Follow Suit (From Forbes)
Military threats are growing steadily. The logical response would be to increase defense spending accordingly. However, four trends are converging to make that response less likely. First, the Pentagon has already received sizable after-inflation spending increases since President Trump entered office in 2017, and yet the joint force can’t seem to keep up with challenges. Second, the national debt has grown to unprecedented peacetime levels. Third, there is little sign the public considers national defense a major concern. Fourth, the [ Read More…]
- House Democrats Happily Stand Up To EU Business Bullies (From RealClearMarkets)
Common sense and advocacy for free markets and innovation are alive and well in some quarters of the Democratic party. Largely overlooked during the rush of the Christmas season, 22 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including 12 Democrats, sent President Biden a muscular letter on December 15 raising “grave concern” about the European Union (EU) designating five U.S. tech companies “gatekeepers.” The designation is a threat to the U.S. economy as it could lead to massive fines and [ Read More…]
- Tanks Are Crucial To Ukraine’s Future Battlefield Success. The U.S. Needs To Provide Them. (From Forbes)
Ukraine’s offensive failed because it could not overcome entrenched Russian defenders. In the absence of decisive air power–which neither side possesses–the only way to penetrate such defenses is with massed armor. Kyiv has a collection of disparate armored systems, but not the kind of focused strength needed to break through. America has the needed equipment. There are thousands of tanks in the U.S. inventory suitable for the job, including large numbers of M1A1 Abrams tanks not in the active force. [ Read More…]
- Ukraine Needs More M1 Abrams Tanks Now (From The National Interest)
Despite predictions for a swift victory in Ukraine, first by Moscow and then by Kyiv, the war in Ukraine is becoming what should have been expected from the outset: a long and difficult slog. Having been pushed by its Western backers into conducting an ill-advised major fall offensive before it had received sufficient Western armaments, Ukraine is now facing the challenging prospect of fending off Russian efforts to bleed its army dry while it prepares to go on offense next [ Read More…]
- Next-Gen Interceptor Is Pentagon’s Only Option For Defeating Future North Korean ICBMs (From Forbes)
North Korea’s nuclear-weapons program is steadily advancing, including three successful tests of ICBMs this year. Building out a defense against this threat should be an urgent priority for the Pentagon, but in fact efforts have lagged. Now U.S. defenders face the prospect of Pyongyang introducing multiple warheads on each missile, or maneuvering warheads, or sophisticated penetration aids. Existing interceptors can’t cope with these emergent threats, which is why the military is pursuing a Next Generation Interceptor. But now comes word [ Read More…]
- FTC Chair Lina Khan Must Either Pivot, Or Face Irrelevance (From RealClearMarkets)
2023 will go down as one of the worst years in the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) 109-year history. This is due to its activist, controversial Chair, Lina Khan, a close advocate of Senator Elizabeth Warren’s visceral, anti-business, anti-free market policies. The FTC has had numerous prominent legal losses, declining staff morale, widespread career professional staff exits, and ethics controversies. Even some who would normally seem likely to be generally supportive of Chair Khan have taken notice and recently weighed in [ Read More…]
- Coalition Deploys US Navy’s Lethal Swiss Army Knife To Send A Message To Iran And China (From Fox News)
Biden’s next move in the Red Sea wars is critical. If we “go to war” in the Mideast, it could be over Houthi hits on Red Sea shipping. “Regarding the Houthis, these attacks are reckless, dangerous, and they violate international law,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said at a press conference in Israel on December 18. Austin later announced Operation Prosperity Guardian, calling it an important new multinational initiative to deal with the Houthi attacks. Warships from Britain, France, Japan [ Read More…]
- RTX Promotion Of Chris Calio To CEO Is A Vote For Competence And Continuity (From Forbes)
Global aerospace and defense enterprise RTX disclosed on December 14 that it is elevating chief operating officer Chris Calio to the position of chief executive officer, effective May 2. This is the culmination of a multiyear process aimed at finding a successor to CEO and chairman Greg Hayes who can shepherd the company into what looks to be a bright future. RTX is so well-positioned in military and commercial markets, both domestically and internationally, that it looks poised to be [ Read More…]