The transition period of a new administration can be particularly challenging for new appointees at the Department of Defense (DoD). The FY2022 defense budget, written by the Trump administration, needs to be reviewed. Work needs to be initiated on the one after that. Incoming administrations routinely initiate a major review of overall defense policy, as well as internal assessments of major program areas such as nuclear weapons modernization, shipbuilding, cyber and tactical aviation. This is also the time to review [ Read More…]

The United States is in a competition with China on multiple fronts: economics, technology, geography, politics, and military power. A major battleground between the two countries is in the field of information. Both sides are racing to gain an advantage in how they acquire, disseminate and exploit information. One of the most important classes of information is geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) which focuses on geography and human activities. GEOINT is increasingly central to the activities of governments, companies, non-governmental organizations, and [ Read More…]

Air power proponents have been assailing the Army’s plans to develop missiles with ranges well beyond what is customary for conventional ground systems. They say the planned capability duplicates what the Air Force already can do, is the antithesis of jointness, and is driven more by a desire to maintain budget share than address operational needs. However, there are numerous question marks about the ability of U.S. heavy bombers to function effectively in the Western Pacific during a war, and [ Read More…]

On April 2, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) quietly announced it had received $8.6 billion for “COVID-19-Related Operating Expenses,” from the U.S. Treasury, that is taxpayers. How the $8.6 billion amount was determined USPS did not say in its two-sentence announcement. But it owes Congress, which appropriated USPS up to $10 billion in COVID assistance, and the American public an explanation about this and large budgeted amounts in its recently announced 10-year strategic plan. For the first six-and-a-half months of [ Read More…]

The Navy wants to develop a new large surface combatant, but Congress isn’t buying its rationale. Authorizers and appropriators alike slashed the 2021 funding request, citing inadequate explanation of requirements and plans. And with good reason. The service already has a wildly successful multi-mission destroyer, the Arleigh Burke, for which production processes and pricing are well understood. If the Navy needs a bigger warship to host hypersonic missiles and such, it has the much larger DDG-1000 Zumwalt. But the service [ Read More…]

One of the most prevalent trends in defense acquisition is that modernizing and upgrading platforms and systems need to be based on open systems architectures, which is now called a modular open systems approach (MOSA). The central thesis of MOSA is that by requiring common standards and interfaces in its major platforms, components, weapons, and systems, future acquisitions of new capabilities and upgrades to legacy systems can be accomplished faster and at lower costs. MOSA can support greater competition, enhanced [ Read More…]

The U.S. Army has no plan to replace its CH-47F Chinook. The heavy-lift helicopter is  expected to remain in the active fleet for another four decades. Any yet, for some inexplicable reason, Army leaders decided not to proceed with upgrades that the service had already paid to develop. Without those “Block II” upgrades it has no way of lifting either its light howitzer or the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle replacement of the Humvee on future battlefields. Congress doesn’t think much [ Read More…]

The world’s largest oil and natural gas companies are sprinting to cut greenhouse gas emissions and making significant progress. By reengineering many operations through digital technology and cloud storage – Big Data – emissions will be cut sooner, and without unnecessary, drastic steps that will drive up the price of oil and gasoline, thereby imposing a de facto, regressive tax. While the oil and natural gas industries have been slow to adopt data analytics, cloud computing, and related practices, there [ Read More…]

Rhode Island-based Textron is making a series of bets on next-generation weapons systems that could significantly shift its business mix in the years ahead. In 2020 it won a competition to supply the Army with robotic combat vehicles, won down-selects to continue vying for two future Army rotorcraft, received a follow-on order from the Navy for next-gen ship-to-shore connectors, secured funding for reentry systems on a future ICBM and continued developing a next-gen rifle (and ammo) for Army squads. It [ Read More…]

The timely and efficient delivery of mail is essential for keeping the U.S. economy humming and supply chains efficient. Unlike package delivery, which is a competitive service, only the U.S. Postal Service can legally deliver mail. It has a monopoly on this essential public service, and its mission performance has degraded by having to handle so many packages. Packages by their very nature are disruptive to the free flow of mail. They are bigger, bulkier and do not go to [ Read More…]