Even though the Western mainstream view is that China is a military and economic dynamo that is quickly leaving America behind, the world may be turning against the Middle Kingdom, and Chinese leadership may be turning to a harsh brand of nationalism as a result. Its recent border clash with India in the high Himalayas and crackdown on free Hong Kong are the most recent manifestations of this. I have written more on this subject here.

From its founding in 1999, BAE Systems, Inc. has become one of the most important U.S. defense, aerospace and security companies. It has achieved its present stature through a combination of strategic acquisitions, far-sighted investments in cutting-edge technologies, and winning a significant number of important competitions. As a result, the company is a major player in several areas critical to U.S. national security, including armored vehicles, artillery systems and naval guns, electronic warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, communications and networking, [ Read More…]

The Federal Aviation Administration is planning a series of modernization initiatives that will integrate national airspace using digital tools. The cornerstone of this effort is the FAA Enterprise Network Services (FENS) project, which provides an information framework for implementation of all the other pieces. FENS is an early opportunity for Raytheon Technologies, the combined aerospace operations of Raytheon and United Technologies, to demonstrate the synergies realized by merging. I talked to the two senior company executives leading the company’s efforts [ Read More…]

The U.S. commercial shipbuilding and shipping industry is in a secular decline. Aside from domestic routes reserved by the Jones Act, U.S.-made and manned merchant vessels have nearly disappeared from the world’s oceans. The decline began because of generous government subsidies given to foreign competitors, but today the industry has fallen to a very low ebb from which it will be hard to emerge. There is only one way out that will not cost Washington billions of dollars: mandate that [ Read More…]

There is common ground between President Trump and leading House Democrats on the House Oversight and Reform Committee on an important but somewhat obscure issue: the Postal Regulatory Commission has demonstrated it should receive $19.2 million in funding for fiscal year 2021. In fact, the $19.2 million will not come directly from taxpayers. Rather, the funds will be provided by the Postal Service, from its operations, to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). The mission of the PRC is to hold [ Read More…]

The Army is developing a successor to its Bradley infantry fighting vehicle called the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV). The winning design will prioritize survivability, mobility, growth and lethality. That shouldn’t come as any surprise. But the way the Army is getting to that winning design is a bit different from what came before. It is using digital modeling and simulation tools to elicit an array of new ideas and assess how they might work in an operational setting. Eventually [ Read More…]

Thomas Jefferson was 33 years old when he wrote the Declaration of Independence, so it is probably too late for you and me to achieve such a notable level of fame. He also attempted, in his draft, to blast the British for bringing slavery to America, but the Southern delegates insisted on excising that language from our most important founding document. Seven years later in the Northwest Ordinance Jefferson successfully barred slavery from what was then called the Northwest Territories, [ Read More…]

Congress should enact comprehensive postal reform in lieu of providing any further bailout or pandemic-related assistance to the U.S. Postal Service. This should be done within the next 12 months. The Postal Service will have sufficient cash until then. Eliminating payments to the Retiree Health Benefits fund is not the cure-all for the Postal Service’s problems. These benefits should be pre-funded on a new actuarial schedule. It is also important to define a new mission – or Universal Service Obligation [ Read More…]

The U.S. Marine Corps has spent $7 billion developing a helicopter that can lift more cargo than any other military rotorcraft in the world. Called the CH-53K King Stallion, it will allow marines to quickly move armored trucks and field artillery from ship to shore in future amphibious operations. King Stallion is an obvious candidate to meet the Army’s requirement for a next-generation heavy lifter. It can satisfy almost all of the key performance criteria for the Army-led Future Vertical [ Read More…]

The coronavirus has precipitated border shutdowns and scapegoating between countries, but it has not done much to erode the sturdy foundations of international alliances. Even with the U.S. pulling away from the WHO, its NATO partnerships, for now, remain cohesive. In particular, the mutual support between the U.S. and Italy—a critical ally in the Mediterranean theater—and Italy’s own commitment to NATO, appear to have provided a new perspective on its importance in the aftermath of the pandemic’s worst devastation in Italy. Both [ Read More…]