Defense
The U.S. Army Meets Star Wars
The United States Army is preparing to propel itself forward on beams of energy into a new realm of warfare. Already, the Army has made great strides in bringing directed energy weapons to the battlefield. . . .
Directed-Energy Weapons: Technologies, Applications and Implications
After decades of research and development, directed-energy weapons are becoming an operational reality. Such weapons generate streams of electromagnetic energy that can be precisely aimed over long . . .
Rumsfeld Budget Delivers On Transformation Pledge
On Monday, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will unveil a six-year spending plan that proposes to increase military expenditures to the unprecedented level of half a trillion dollars annually by the end of . . .
Coast Guard Counter-Terror Plan Undercut By Aging Fleet
After 9-11, America rediscovered its Coast Guard. The nation's smallest military service was buried in the byzantine Department of Transportation during the 1960s, and has been forced to operate on a . . .
Iraq — The Consequences Of Not Acting Now
U.S. efforts to remove Saddam Hussein are now thoroughly entangled in the United Nations process. Although Colin Powell's campaign to dissuade the President from unilateral action was defensible on . . .
Renaming The Stryker
Remember the legend of the Phoenix, the mythical creature that is consumed on its own funeral pyre only to be born anew and rise again from the ashes? A new Phoenix has arisen in the Bush . . .
Defeating Iraq With Photons
Every military correspondent in America seems to be writing a story about how air warfare has changed since Operation Desert Storm in 1991. It's a pretty compelling story. Thanks to weapons like the stealthy . . .
UAVs: How Revolutionary?
Last month's use of a Predator drone equipped with Hellfire missiles to kill Al Qaeda operative Abu Ali is being hailed by transformation proponents as further proof that future warfare will favor unmanned . . .
Delay In New Spy Satellites Could Endanger Warfighters
This week Pentagon policymakers will begin revealing the investment choices they have made in putting together the fiscal 2004 defense budget. Most of the choices are smart. The Air Force's F/A-22 multirole . . .
Revolution Gone Awry
This evening I want to express some doubts about military transformation. Since transformation has acquired an aura of unassailable virtue, I suppose I should begin by saying that I am not a Luddite. . .