Congress begins almost every fiscal year with a Continuing Resolution to extend prior-year funding levels, because it hasn’t completed work on a new annual budget. This year, there’s a danger it never will. Concern is growing on Capitol Hill that partisan wrangling over a border wall and impeachment will distract from completing a budget, and in the end 2019 appropriation levels will continue through fiscal 2020. That would preclude a planned 14% increase in military weapons accounts while undermining training [ Read More…]

President Trump isn’t likely to be removed from office through the impeachment process, but he could fail in his reelection bid if there is an economic recession. In such a scenario, leading to the seating of a chief executive from the Democratic Party, there would be major consequences for America’s military. Defense spending would probably plummet, and the mix of military spending would shift away from weapons. Military tensions with China and Iran would likely ease, even as military tensions [ Read More…]

Russia has sought to use many of the processes, traditions and norms of the current international system as part of its hybrid warfare arsenal, not only in the pursuit of its national interests but to undermine that global order. An example of this is Moscow’s efforts to exploit the international legal regime through what has become known as lawfare. This is defined as “the strategy of using – or misusing – law as a substitute for traditional military means to [ Read More…]

When energy policies work, American families benefit. An October report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers finds that the increased domestic production of natural gas and oil is saving a family of four $2,500 a year. Yet, much of these savings have been offset by higher electricity bills due to renewable power subsidies and related fees and assessments. There needs to be greater transparency on how energy policies impact families, especially the poor. Lexington Institute’s Paul Steidler has [ Read More…]

The Department of Defense this week disclosed an agreement with F-35 fighter prime contractor Lockheed Martin that will reduce the average production cost of each fighter by 12.7% across three production lots. The tri-service, multirole fighter that is also being sold to a dozen overseas allies thus continues its steady progress towards becoming the global standard for tactical aircraft. 450 F-35s are now operating from 19 bases around the world, providing a potent and increasingly more affordable deterrent to aggression. [ Read More…]

National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, better known as NASSCO, is the last major shipbuilder on the West Coast. In addition to building auxiliary vessels for the Navy and expeditionary warfare vessels to support the Marine Corps, it also constructs oceangoing commercial vessels for protected domestic routes and performs repairs on ships. NASSCO, a unit of General Dynamics, needs to maintain a diverse business base because commercial and military demand both are subject to boom-and-bust cycles. While its San Diego shipyard [ Read More…]

Protecting America’s electric grid from cyberattacks is a formidable and evolving challenge, requiring continuous evolution and improvement. In recent weeks there have been seven notable developments. While there is no single solution or “silver bullet” to ensure the electric grid is safeguarded from cyberattacks, each of the following is an important and positive building block. Senate Legislation. On September 25, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources passed two measures. The Energy Cybersecurity Act, introduced by Senator Maria Cantwell [ Read More…]

The Tomahawk cruise missile is the most ubiquitous munition in the U.S. Navy, deployed on 145 warships including both surface combatants and attack submarines. Designed to precisely destroy distant, well-defended targets without causing collateral damage, Tomahawk is now being evolved to address a wider array of enemy assets. The Block V version of Tomahawk will include a maritime strike variant capable to targeting moving ships at sea and a hard-target kill variant that can penetrate densely-constructed structures (like command posts) [ Read More…]

Taiwan is about to secure its biggest arms sale from Washington in many years, including 66 F-16 fighters and over a hundred M1A2 tanks.  Congressional support for arming Taiwan remains strong, and a key reason why is that if Beijing were to seize control of the island, it would unravel U.S. strategy for containing China’s rising military power. That strategy focuses heavily on a chain of islands running from Japan to the Philippines that creates chokepoints for the Chinese Navy. [ Read More…]

The next Postmaster General, who will be appointed by the Board of Governors of the Postal Service, faces formidable challenges, the likes of which few CEOs or political appointees today must confront. An iconic American institution, the Postal Service is fast approaching bankruptcy. Its revenues are contracting, its business model is widely acknowledged to be broken and there is uncertainty about its mission, or in postal speak, the universal service obligation. Compounding this, Congress is avoiding dealing with major postal [ Read More…]