Reports of China's impending decision to restrict exports of rare-earth minerals has suddenly awoken the U.S. government to its dependence on China for virtually all of the permanent magnets and rare-earth materials used throughout the defense industrial complex. China controls more than 95 percent of the world's supply of rare-earth…
[caption id="attachment_408" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="A multi-national naval force, including the San Antonio class-amphibious transport dock ship USS Mesa Verde, USS Doyle, USCGC Mohawk, the Colombian navy frigate ARC Independiente, the Dutch navy auxiliary ship HMNLS Amsterdam, and the Uruguayan navy frigate General Artigas, underway in formation as part of FuerzasAliadas…
[caption id="attachment_537" align="alignleft" width="137" caption="Ambassador Jon Glassman"][/caption] Ambassador Glassman addresses the important question of how the new governments of the industrial democracies will address defense modernization. The global economic crisis could lead to a significant reduction in the capability of these democracies to defend themselves and their interests. Short-sided economic…
[caption id="attachment_627" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Robert Johnson"][/caption] The shape of tactical vehicle modernization impacts on other services and on other procurement choices. We discuss elsewhere the C5M modernization effort: determining what vehicles the lift fleet will carry is an important driver in debates about what to modernize and what to buy…
The F-22 debate has been highly charged politically. It has been used as a symbol for “defense waste” and “high technology irrelevance” by its detractors; and as a symbol of declining commitment by the United States to global power projection and strategic protection to its allies. But missing in this…
In late September, the President announced the termination of the plans to place missile interceptors in Central Europe. In so doing, Secretary Gates and President Obama indicated that they were replacing the old plan with a new one (for an interesting comment on this decision see Colin Clark on DOD…
[caption id="attachment_505" align="alignleft" width="186" caption="Delta II Launch. Photo credits: Boeing Co."][/caption] The more than 40 year history of US military space has entered a new phase. The US military space system was built as a unique overlay for the US intelligence community and the US military to provide for strategic…
[caption id="attachment_481" align="alignleft" width="214" caption="Aegis Missile Launch"][/caption] Missile defense is a global effort. It requires the global deployment of U.S. forces and the capability to connect those forces with those of its allies. Joint and coalition concepts of operations are being shaped to ensure decision makers with the options of…
