Defense
Failure To Use Radar Planes Against Taliban Is Foolish
U.S. commanders in Afghanistan are reporting worrisome advances in the battlefield performance of Taliban insurgents. Enemy discipline and morale seem to be improving, encouraged no doubt by the inability . . .
Reversing Industrial Decline: A Role for the Defense Budget
After dominating global industrial activity for a century, the United States is losing its edge in manufacturing to other nations. Over the last 30 years, manufacturing has fallen from a quarter to an . . .
Are Policymakers Too Enchanted With Unmanned Aircraft?
The Pentagon's quadrennial review of strategy and requirements is returning the joint force to a threat-based military posture. After eight years of toying with the idea of a "capabilities-based" posture, . . .
Lexington Launches A Different Kind Of Defense Blog
Greetings from New England. Yes, I too am at the beach. But I'm still working, and the purpose of this brief is to tell you about a new project that the Lexington Institute has launched while you were . . .
STOPPING C-17 NOW WOULD HOBBLE FUTURE WARFIGHTERS
The U.S. Air Force is the only military organization in the world that operates a diverse fleet of airlifters capable of transporting large forces over long distances on short notice. The airlift fleet . . .
Air Force Delay On Radar Plane Fix Hurts Soldiers
Every day, one of the Air Force's 17 Joint Stars radar planes takes off from a base in Southwest Asia to conduct secret intelligence-gathering missions. A multimode radar installed on the plane's belly . . .
There’s No Reason To Cut Funds For C-130 Modernization
The most successful aircraft in the history of military aviation isn't a fighter or a bomber, it's the C-130 Hercules airlifter. Conceived in the early 1950s as a short-hop cargo plane and people mover . . .
Are Jets A Better Fit For The Afghan Environment?
As U.S. forces begin the planned surge into Afghanistan we are again reminded that in many ways this is a tougher fight than the military experienced in Iraq. The geography of Afghanistan is daunting, . .
Some Nuclear Cuts Are Feasible, But Big Ones Are Dangerous
On July 6, President Obama and his Russian counterpart agreed in principle to a new strategic arms treaty that would reduce the number of operational nuclear weapons in each nation's arsenal. News of . . .
Global Warming And The Politics Of Mania
America's political culture is a marketplace of ideas, and like other markets it sometimes is seized by big ideas that disrupt normal operations. These ideas typically assume the character of manias, . . .