Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

cipherbrief

Welcome! Log in to stay connected and make the most of your experience.

Input clean

Military

Winning the Peace: The Democratic Dilemma of Limited War

In our previous article, we argued that overwhelming military superiority no longer guarantees strategic success.Today, military and political [...] More

The Latest

Congress Questions Pentagon Spending—and the Future of Trump’s Battleship

“I’m deeply concerned that the Presidential proposal for $350 billion mandatory funding [to be carried in a reconciliation bill and not an [...] More

The Forty-Year Cyber Policy Failure Congress Refuses to Address

Late last month, the former deputy assistant director of the FBI's Cyber Division testified before the House Homeland Security Committee that the [...] More

Can the Pentagon Buy Faster Before the Next War Arrives?

“The reasons why DoD (the Defense Department) accepts flawed business cases are both structural and cultural in nature. Poor acquisition decisions [...] More

Defense Department Showcases Multi-Domain Autonomous Display In Pentagon's Courtyard

Can the Pentagon’s New Innovation System Deliver?

Welcome to The Iron Triangle, the Cipher Brief column serving Procurement Officers tasked with buying the future, Investors funding the next [...] More

Congress Faces a Growing Blind Spot in the Pentagon’s Expanding Budget

OPINION -- “That brings me to a concern I want to put on the record. In addition to the billions requested for the F-35 [fighter-bomber] enterprise, [...] More

​Armed supporters of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro stand guard

The Dangerous Trade of State Secrets

At just after 2 a.m. on January 3, explosions echoed across Caracas. Low-flying aircraft struck military installations. Venezuelan President Nicolás [...] More

Drones Spotted Being Used Illegally

Is the U.S. lagging when it comes to drone warfare superiority?

When Iranian Shahed drones began tearing through the Gulf in the opening hours of Operation Epic Fury on February 28, killing American service [...] More

Trump Is Getting His Way in Caracas — But It’s Complicated

Trump Is Getting His Way in Caracas — But It’s Complicated

In 2017, Marco Rubio, then Florida’s junior senator, was assigned a Capitol Police security detail because the U.S. received unverified but alarming [...] More

China Holds Annual Two Sessions Political Meetings-NPC

China’s Military Purges Were Larger Than We Thought

In China, the generals keep losing their jobs. On February 26, nine senior officers of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) – five generals, one [...] More

New Reports Reveal Years of Unaddressed Osprey Safety Risks

New Reports Reveal Years of Unaddressed Osprey Safety Risks

DEEP DIVE — It is one of the most lauded defense developments in recent decades, providing preeminent capability to U.S. military personnel [...] More

Trump’s Power Doctrine: A $1.5 Trillion Military, Greenland Ambitions, and a World Ruled by Force

“After long and difficult negotiations with Senators, Congressmen, Secretaries, and other Political Representatives, I have determined that, for the [...] More

Maduro and Noriega: Assessing the Analogies

Asked if there were any restraints on his global powers, [President Trump] answered: “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s [...] More