U.S. Mission in Space: Maintaining Credibility to Deter
OPINION — “Space is a warfighting domain. Therefore, the Space Force cannot simply be a support element. It is our job to contest and control […] More
Pentagon
The Senate Drives a Nuclear Spending Spree
OPINION — “America’s defense strategy and strategic posture must change in order to properly defend its vital interests and improve strategic stability with China and […] More
Boeing Has Military Problems, Too
OPINION — “Boeing is using new, automated manufacturing processes to drill holes prior to assembling the forward fuselage [of its F-15EX fighter aircraft]…According to [Air […] More
Audits show the Pentagon’s Numbers Aren’t Completely Adding up
OPINION — “Because of the [Defense] Department’s global scale, we have three million people on our payrolls; a health-care system that serves more than nine […] More
The Latest
Senator Tuberville: A One Man National Security Threat
OPINION — “For months, Senator [Tommy] Tuberville [R-Ala.] has said, if individual nominees are brought up for a vote one at a time, he will […] More
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
Leak Questions Begin To Center Around A Cell Phone
CIPHER BRIEF REPORTING – A wall of small lockers, replete with keys and combination locks, stands just inside the Pentagon – one of many where, […] 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
The Cost of Not Bringing the Pentagon into the Post-Cold War Era
OPINION — We are in a new kind of warfare with Russia and a little-noticed House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee hearing last Tuesday showed, […] More
The Pentagon’s ‘All Hell Breaking Loose’ Scenario for Climate Change
The Pentagon often wargames future scenarios for when ‘all hell breaks loose’ with the idea of training for the worst-case scenario. Secretary of Defense Lloyd […] More
Are We on the Brink of an Encounter with China?
OPINION — On the morning of Tuesday, July 7, FBI Director Christopher Wray told a Hudson Institute audience, “The greatest long-term threat to our nation’s […] More
It’s Been Over 300 Days Since a Pentagon Press Briefing
For about six months now, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has used her briefing room so little that officials might as well turn it back into […] More
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps Named Terrorist Group
Bottom Line Up Front The 8 April Trump administration announcement designating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization will have […] More
Civilian Casualties and the Struggle for Transparency
Bottom Line Up Front A partially declassified study of U.S. military operations demonstrates the difficulty in accurately counting and mitigating civilian casualties. Disparities exist […] More
Securing Orbit: Countdown to a Space Corps?
President Trump on Monday called for the creation of a new Space Force to be designated as an independent, sixth branch of the U.S. military. […] More
Future Challenges for Special Operations Forces
The U.S. Special Operations Command has about 67,000 troops and an annual budget of around 14 billion dollars. That may not seem to be a […] More
15 Years After Invading Iraq: Winning the War, But Still Fighting for Peace
Monday marks 15 years since President George W. Bush announced the start of the Iraq war, followed by a ‘decapitation’ air strike on Baghdad meant […] More
Arming Troops on Base After Parkland? Not so fast.
Will the Department of Defense amend its policies regarding troops carrying private firearms on military bases? More importantly, should it? Access all of The Cipher […] More