The Combat Effect of the Super Tucano: A Tortured Acquisition Saga Gone Good

01/26/2018
2018-01-19 By Robbin Laird When have you read a positive review of our combat experience in Afghanistan from the Pentagon’s Inspector General? Not a common experience for sure, but very recently, the IG underscored a significant advance in how the battle in Afghanistan is going forward. “Less than two years…

Inside the New Trump Administration National Defense Strategy

01/23/2018
2018-01-19 The Trump Administration released today the new national defense strategy and as our colleague Colin Clark, Editor of Breaking Defense, noted, it is a significant change from that of the Obama Administration. “The Trump Administration’s first National Defense Strategy is a vigorously and well written document that marks a major…

Peaceful Denuclearization Means DPRK Regime Can Survive

01/21/2018
2018-01-18 By Danny Lam The United States and Canada just concluded a meeting of the United Nations Command Sending States and allies in Vancouver, British Columbia. "Sending states" refers to the belligerents acting under the authority of the United Nations that originally signed the Korean Armistice Agreement of 1953 with…

21st Century Military Power: Changing the Hard and Soft Power Calculus

01/19/2018
2018-01-12 By Robbin Laird The US military has been focused along with core allies in fighting counter-terrorism land wars for more than a decade, which represents a defining generation of combat experience for the joint, and coalition force. There has been significant combat learning in shaping new approaches to counter-terrorism…

Trump’s Security Strategy Balances Counterproliferation, Nuclear Modernization, and Missile Defenses

01/15/2018
2018-01-09 By Richard Weitz The Trump administration’s National Security Strategy (NSS)—if fully executed in the Pentagon’s upcoming National Defense Strategy in January and its Nuclear Posture and Ballistic Missile Defense Reviews in February—would provide robust protection against WMD threats, whether wielded by terrorists or hostile countries. Reflecting the bipartisan foundation…

Trump’s National Security Strategy: Positioning the US In the 21st Century Global Game

01/10/2018
2018-01-01 By Richard Weitz The Trump administration’s National Security Strategy (NSS) has likely had a more impact than most previous versions of this document. Foreign observers are probably reading the text closely, especially the sections referencing their own country. The strategy has four primary pillars: (1) protecting the homeland by…

Russia’s Latest Steps In the Mediterranean

01/09/2018
2018-01-01 By Stephen Blank In a previous article this author laid out the dimensions and capabilities in Russia’s expanding network of air and naval bases in and around the Middle East. Recently, Moscow took another significant step towards the consolidation and extension of its naval capabilities in the Mediterranean. Moscow…

Indian Navy Wants the Latest Technologies for its Future Aircraft Carriers

01/09/2018
2018-01-09 By Gulshan Luthra New Delhi. The Indian Navy is considering the latest technologies for its future aircraft carriers, and has sought “a go-ahead” from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for a design feasibility study to look at “the latest advances in this field.” Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil…