Press reports on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) have tended to downplay how much progress the program has made on multiple fronts, including on lowering those costs and the contribution that the JSF is already making to U.S. national security, as well as that of allies and partners. The Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps have all declared the F-35 to be operational, as have a number of foreign operators, including the U.K., Israel and, most recently, South Korea. To [ Read More…]

President Trump is certain to avoid removal from office when the Senate holds its trial early next year pursuant to articles of impeachment. Not only that, he is likely to win a second term as chief executive, because incumbents seeking reelection who avoid recessions invariably prevail. This is good news for the defense industry, which has benefited handsomely from Trump’s investment-heavy military buildup. Life for military contractors will gradually grow harder as military outlays level off in the years ahead, [ Read More…]

There are reports that Pyongyang may be restarting its nuclear weapons program, and Kim Jong-un has promised some kind of ballistic missile Christmas surprise. Iran likewise continues to develop its long-range ballistic missile capabilities. Yet, this is the time the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) chose to cancel its program to develop an improved warhead, called a kill vehicle, for the Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) that is the core of the military’s ability to defend the U.S. Instead, the Pentagon decided to [ Read More…]

In his Commandant’s Planning Guidance, Marine Corps General David Berger proposes the most radical redesign of the Marine Corps in more than half a century. According to the new Commandant, “the Marine Corps is not organized, trained, equipped, or postured to meet the demands of the rapidly evolving future operating environment.” General Berger declared his number one priority to be a new force design focused on “maintaining persistent naval forward presence to enable sea control and denial operations in the [ Read More…]

It now seems certain that the nation will be getting a sixth branch of the military, the Space Force. Initially housed within the Department of the Air Force, it will eventually be completely autonomous–depriving the Air Force of its former leadership role in military space. The airborne force that remains has some major challenges it needs to address. How will it fashion an integrated battle management architecture for the future if half the assets that matter have moved to a [ Read More…]

As founding members of NATO, the United States and Italy have enjoyed a productive security relationship since the end of World War Two. But in recent years, the post-Cold War strategic status quo in the Mediterranean has been eroded by Turkey’s increasing alignment with Russia, exemplified by its recent purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems. Because the U.S.-Italy alliance has been so enduring, because Italy is a key manufacturer of F-35’s, and because Turkish incursions prevent fellow NATO ally Greece [ Read More…]

It is more important than ever for Congress to undertake comprehensive postal reform. The Postal Service remains indispensable to the economy and continues to be under financial pressure. The foundation for reform is in a comprehensive December 2018 U.S. Department of Treasury Postal Service Task Force report, which has 25 recommendations. These were compiled based on extensive research and discussions with 45 organizations. Lexington Institute’s Paul Steidler has written a commentary for InsideSources about this topic here.

Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine, incessant military and other probes against NATO members, sustained military buildup, and constant efforts to project power beyond its borders present NATO with difficult operational and strategic quandaries. A particularly intractable issue confronting NATO is how to sustain existing deployments and the flow of allied forces into European theaters at risk from the Arctic to the Black Sea. This problem not only derives from Russia’s initial superiority in theaters adjacent to it as embodied in [ Read More…]

For almost two decades, Russia has been interfering in the domestic politics of other nations. It is not just the big countries such as Ukraine or NATO members like the Baltic States, Hungary or Romania that are under pressure from Moscow. Even one of the smallest, the former Soviet Republic of Moldova, is a target of Russia’s information warfare. Moldova is strategically significant to Russia. A pro-Russian Moldova advances Moscow’s goal of encircling Ukraine. Russia has a long history of interfering [ Read More…]

Despite a chronic trade deficit in advanced technology products, the United States remains a global trendsetter for networking and telecommunications. U.S. companies are currently in a battle with Chinese state-influenced enterprises like Huawei that will determine whether American dominance continues into the era of 5G communications. 5G is the next big leap in mobile networking, a cluster of technologies that will deliver greatly increased speed, bandwidth and reliability to users. The U.S. Department of Defense has said that 5G is [ Read More…]