Michael Wynne on: The Industrial Impact of the Decision to Terminate the F-22 Program

10/02/2009
[caption id="attachment_630" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Michael Wynne at Normandy"][/caption] Secretary of the Air Force Donley together with the Air Force Chief of Staff Schwartz wrote an oped over this past summer wanting to put the contentious F-22 debate behind them. With their then recent installation and the heated debate on 'next…

Ambassador Glassman on: Japan and Defense Modernization: Critical Catalyst for Regional Stability and Recovery

09/22/2009
[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…

The European Missile Defense Decision: impact on Con Ops and industrial ripple effect

09/21/2009
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…

The Case for New Programs in a Period of Defense Transition: The Naval UCAS Case

09/17/2009
9/17/09: The United States and its allies are in the midst of a significant financial downturn with serious consequences for defense acquisition. The “contingency operation” in Afghanistan and the “withdrawal” from Iraq both generate severe budgetary pressures and emphasize force acquisition priorities most appropriate to those operations. And the “withdrawal”…

The Acquisition Challenge: Re-Shaping US Forces in a Constrained Fiscal Environment

09/17/2009
[caption id="attachment_1187" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="C-5M in Flight"][/caption] As the Obama Administration shapes the acquisition approach of the Department of Defense for the years to come, hard choices will be taken. And these choices will have significant impact both in implementing strategy and in shaping strategy for years to come. Among…