Boeing has long been an iconic American brand, the nation’s leading exporter of aerospace products. But it wants to be something more–a member of the hometown team in places like Europe and the Indian subcontinent when military equipment is being purchased. In Europe, the company has seen an uptick in military sales since Russia invaded Ukraine, and the company wants to continue that trend. But being the favored solution is partly about being on the ground in key markets, and [ Read More…]

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has petitioned the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to revise the rules and process by which a Commissioner will be disqualified from an adjudication or rule-making procedure if the Commissioner does not agree to a voluntary recusal. It is a reasonable, common sense, and non-burdensome proposal that will serve the public good and enhance the reputation of the FTC. As such, the Lexington Institute strongly supports this proposal, via public comments in the docket (FTC-2023-0059). The [ Read More…]

With the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) going through a period of unprecedented, historic operational change while also facing skyrocketing crimes from outsiders and bad apples within its ranks, it is imperative to strengthen USPS’s Office of Inspector General (OIG USPS). USPS IG audits USPS programs to identify savings, inefficiencies, and ways they can work better. It also investigates and unearths crimes within USPS. Indeed, USPS has a perfect storm of issues and challenges that provide a textbook case regarding the [ Read More…]

Move over, Maverick. AI software can land a plane on a carrier deck better than you.  Over 5,000 men and women crew each of America’s 11 aircraft carriers, but the U.S. Navy’s counting on AI to help them fight China. AI will bring carrier planes in for landings, fly unmanned tankers with fuel for combat planes, and even analyze the bug juice in the chow line. Night carrier landings are dangerous feats of combat aviation. Americans think of the “Top Gun” movies starring Tom Cruise [ Read More…]

Done right, American leadership will keep the Abraham Accords peace process on track, slam the door on Iran and prevent China from making cheap diplomatic gains. “We’re surging additional military assistance, including ammunition and interceptors to replenish Iron Dome,” President Biden said on Oct. 10. “We’re going to ensure that Israel does not run out of these critical assets to defend its cities and citizens.” Make no mistake, Biden needs to get this one right. The Afghanistan withdrawal debacle, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and [ Read More…]

The Biden administration has mounted a multifaceted effort to support Israel in the aftermath of mass atrocities committed by Hamas. The most potent aspect of that effort has been the dispatch of two carrier strike groups and an amphibious ready group–a dozen warships in all–to the eastern Mediterranean. Being able to deploy so much firepower quickly in support of a key ally without having to depend on the land bases of other countries is one of the things that distinguishes [ Read More…]

Earlier this year, Leidos and Domino Data Lab conducted a digital wargame applying machine learning to a combat scenario. What made the game different is that the software they used was for Reinforcement Learning, an approach to machine learning that mimics the trial-and-error interaction with the environment that characterizes much of human learning. RL, as it is called, could transform the way in which artificial intelligence is applied to military operations, because it does not require supervising the learning process [ Read More…]

While it is common for countries, states, and even cities to have business advocacy organizations in other nations, the European Union (EU) is doing a variation on this theme: setting up an office in San Francisco to constrain and exploit America’s tech companies. The EU has half-heartedly acknowledged this while launching a full-fledged campaign against the U.S. tech industry. For example, the Digital Markets Act imposes onerous requirements against five successful U.S. tech companies the EU designates as “technology gatekeepers.” [ Read More…]

An experimental mission funded by the Space Systems Command points to the prospect for a more responsive military-space operation in the future. Dubbed Victus Nox (“conquer the night”), an industry team led by Boeing’s Millennium Space and Firefly Aerospace succeeded in preparing, launching and initializing a space-awareness satellite in record time. Processes that typically require weeks or months were compressed into a few days, demonstrating how satellites lost or degraded in future conflicts can be rapidly replaced. That’s a good [ Read More…]

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wants to put hundreds of millions of unused opioids into the U.S. mail stream annually. This is both dangerous and unnecessary, as there are simpler and far better ways to immediately get rid of these dangerous narcotics. When a patient no longer needs prescribed opioids for severe pain relief, the unused pills are a lurking danger. Take-back programs at pharmacies, police stations, and other venues enable people to dispose of opioids safely and [ Read More…]