By Ed Timperlake The F-35 is often simply referred to as a tactical aircraft, and a replacement for 4th generation or legacy aircraft. It is really something quite different. It represents a dramatic shift from the past. For the first time in history, individual F-35 pilots –A, B or C…
The PNSR Case Studies: The Bottom Line By Richard Weitz The case studies cover a necessarily limited number of national security challenges and analyze a correspondingly finite record of U.S. government performance. This limitation excludes extensive quantitative analysis. Even so, the issues covered, the geographic scope, and historical diversity of…
by Robbin Laird 2012 is perhaps a turning point year in the global fighter market. India’s downselect of the Rafale and the possible selection by Brazil of the same aircraft could have some game changing qualities. First, if this were to occur, this would mean that the US is down…
Thomas Hobson became known in history for what is called Hobson’s choice. A person has a free choice but can only chose one option. For the normal human, this sounds like no choice at all. But for Thomas Hobson, a livery stable owner in Cambridge England, he would offer customers…
by Kenneth Maxwell Brazil's principal newspaper had two stories in its Saturday issue concerning the competition for a new fleet of combat aircraft for the Brazilian air force and the continuing saga of the Super Tucano. In the "Folha de Sao Paulo," Clovis Rossi, writing from New Deli, where President…
By Richard Weitz The PNSR Case Studies: Righting Resource Allocation Allocating resources improperly is a persistent problem with U.S. national security policy. The national security system finds it easier to mobilize resources for hard power assets (e.g., military capabilities) than for soft power capabilities (e.g., civilian agencies or public diplomacy).…
Bold Alligator 2012 was the largest Amphibious exercise in more than a decade. After a decade of land wars, the “return” of the USN-USMC team to littoral engagement operations is a core skillset, which needs to be highlighted and further, enhanced and developed. Because it is called an amphibious exercise,…
by Robbin Laird Recently, we have seen yet again, a US government report on the life cycle costs of the F-35 fleet from a 55 year perspective! One could ask a simple question: what has mandated this question and why are they not fired? There are many questions one can…
