The U.S. Navy has a vision for a future fleet that involves deploying as many as 150 unmanned platforms, both unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) of diverse sizes and weights. The technology for USVs is well-developed with several USVs, particularly medium-sized USVs (MUSVs), having been operated at sea for protracted periods of time over several years. In multiple deployments and exercises, these MUSVs have proven their utility. Despite this, the Navy is holding off on deploying MUSVs operationally, apparently [ Read More…]

Poland has become the linchpin of NATO’s eastern defenses. Recognizing Poland’s important geostrategic position, the U.S. has deployed significant forces to that country, including a rotationally deployed Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT) and the prepositioned equipment for a second ABCT. Simultaneously, the U.S. has underwritten Warsaw’s military modernization campaign by providing critical advanced weapons systems including F-35s, Patriot air defenses and HIMARS rocket artillery. The U.S. has approved the sale of more than 360 M1 Abrams tanks, the same type [ Read More…]

Tammy Whitcomb Hull is the Inspector General of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). She leads a staff of approximately 1,000 that does investigations and audit work, integral to the proper functioning of USPS. Several factors have made the work of the USPS Office of Inspector General (USPS OIG) even more important. These include the pandemic, the rise in mail-in voting, and the implementation of USPS’s 10-year strategic plan, Delivering for America. The Lexington Institute’s Paul Steidler spoke with Inspector General [ Read More…]

August 9, 2022 Meeting Thank you, and congratulations to Governors Tangherlini and Kan on your appointments. One of the most exciting developments in international business over the next decade will be the rise in small, cross-border package shipments. McKinsey predicts these to triple. This is good news for American businesses looking to sell more abroad. Low-cost and efficient international e-commerce also means more affordable and reliable purchases, and downward pressure on inflation. To help ensure these benefits to the American [ Read More…]

In 2018, the Federal Trade Commission allowed Northrop Grumman to acquire rocket-motor maker Orbital ATK, with conditions. Now Politico reports that FTC lawyers believe Northrop violated those conditions. That violation may have resulted in Boeing dropping out of the competition to build a replacement for the Minuteman III missile, which Northrop as a result won. The situation raises interesting antitrust implications, because earlier this year FTC forced Lockheed Martin to abandon a planned acquisition of Orbital competitor Aerojet Rocketdyne. It [ Read More…]

America’s crime wave is coming to your front door if it has not hit there already. Porch piracy, the theft of brand-new, unopened items in packages laying just outside the sanctuary of your home’s living space is a hot trend. Especially coveted items include large-screen televisions, cell phones, and anything from high-end retailers. But even the loss of items such as baby formula, prescription medicines, and medical devices can be highly disruptive. It is time to get tough on thieves [ Read More…]

Events of recent weeks have underscored the correctness of the Biden administration’s view that China is this country’s pacing threat, one that is racing to create a military that would challenge that of the United States. The U.S. military is seeking to alter both the design of its forces and how they operate in peacetime to provide a credible deterrent and, if necessary, a war-winning capability. To that end, the U.S. Navy is proposing both a quantitative and qualitative buildup. [ Read More…]

The United States government maintains a complex system for controlling arms sales called International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR. It is designed to prevent military technology from falling into the hands of bad actors, but it impedes sending the same technology to friends–even when it is urgently needed. With Beijing now determined to match and surpass Washington in advanced technology, there is a need to compress the time required to secure approvals in military transactions with key allies. The [ Read More…]

The U.S. Army is expected to award a contract for the development of a Black Hawk helicopter successor in October. It is potentially a very big program, and competing industry teams are straining to prevail. One team, led by Boeing and Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky unit, is highlighting potential dangers to the rotorcraft industry’s workforce, depending on who wins or loses the award. The other team, led by Bell/Textron, is stressing a different facet of the potential industrial-base fallout. It says [ Read More…]

With the global economy becoming increasingly interconnected, it is essential that international package delivery keep up. International package shipments are expected to at least triple in the next decade. This is good news for American businesses looking to sell more abroad. And for businesses and consumers, low-cost and efficient international e-commerce means more affordable and reliable purchases. But the vast promises of expanded international e-commerce will be diluted, and perhaps sidetracked, if the current international regulatory regime of small packages [ Read More…]