The Perfect Tool for Scaling U.S. Defense Investment
OPINION — In the global techno-competition, the Department of Defense (DoD) has finally fielded a tool to incentivize America’s capital markets to invest in the […] More
DoD
The Pentagon Needs a Real Budget, Not Stop-Gap Solutions, says top DoD official
CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING — With President Joe Biden and top Republican lawmakers sitting down together this week in the hopes of averting an historic government […] More
It’s Time To Rethink Aerial Warfare
OPINION — “The Air Force we have employed for the last 20 or 30 years is not the Air Force we need to succeed in the […] More
The Pentagon’s Cyber Personnel Issues Need More Attention
OPINION — The Army, which seeks to double the size of its cyber forces over the next five years, is already short-staffed in two key […] More
What is the Pentagon doing with record R&D Appropriations?
OPINION — House and Senate conferees on their own, upped the Defense Department’s fiscal 2023 research and development appropriations to $140 billion. That’s $10 billion […] More
Is AI the right fit for predictive military maintenance?
OPINION — The DoD is continually challenged to provide battle-ready ground combat systems, ships, submarines and aircraft to its warfighters, spending nearly $90 billion each […] More
How the U.S. Military is Thinking about Supporting its Own
OPINION — “First, and foremost, we support the men and women who serve in the United States military in this bill. Most specifically, we serve […] More
Does China Have the Military Wherewithal to Match its Ambitions?
OPINION — Last Tuesday’s Pentagon released 2022 Report on Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China deserves a closer look on subjects […] More
What the Joint Chiefs Chairman thinks about a Great Power War
OPINION — “There are a lot of lessons learned coming out of the Ukrainian war. There’s lessons learned for Taiwan. There are lessons learned that […] More
Closing the Gap in US Cruise Missile Defenses
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE – Following recent Russian airstrikes on Kyiv, Germany sent the first of four planned IRIS-T SLM air defense systems to Ukraine. France, the […] More
The Clear and Present Danger Trap
OPINION — When will the U.S. learn the lessons of Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan? Operation Inherent Resolve has been underway since 2014, in the Iraq/Syria […] More
Change is in the Mission for U.S. Special Operations Command
OPINION — U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), which has grown to become the world’s top counterterrorism force over the past 20 years, is now facing […] More
How AI and ML are Impacting DOD and CIA’s Future
OPINION — Two reports released last Wednesday raise separate questions about the ability of the Defense Department (DoD) and Intelligence Community (IC) to meet the […] More
The Drone Series: A New Battle in the Air
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE: The presence of drones/UAV’s in armed conflicts as varied as Syria, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Ukraine is not only influencing military tactics and strategy but it’s […] More
What are we Getting for Record Defense Spending?
OPINION — Next year’s national defense spending — for the Defense Department, the Department of Energy [for nuclear weapons] and other security agencies — may […] More
U.S. Strategy for Addressing the Nuclear Deterrence and Assurance Gap
OPINION — The Biden Administration’s fiscal 2023 budget and yet-to-be-publicly-released 2022 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) call for ending research on a low-yield, nuclear submarine-launched cruise […] More
How Layered Defense in Ukraine is Shaping Future U.S. Military Operations
OPINION — Last week, senior Pentagon officials offered some initial lessons learned from the first two months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. At an […] More
How Iran is Winning, One Attack at a Time
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — This week, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) issued a statement confirming that “U.S. forces at Al Dhafra Air Base, near Abu Dhabi in the United […] More