In 2006, a relatively obscure book caused a major stir among the U.S. Air Force leadership. Why Air Forces Fail, edited by Robin Higham and Stephen J. Harris, lays out the determinants of failure: deficiencies in the industrial base, misguided technology and tactical picks, inattention to logistics and neglect of training. The case studies are broken… Keep reading →

The biggest shocker of the year was how Donald Trump’s candidacy for president evolved from marginal to “deplorable” to victorious. But what kind of president will Trump be? While Trump’s tendency to tweet from the hip has upset the defense industry and foreign allies alike, his statements on the campaign trail and, above all, his… Keep reading →

The only line about national security in Donald Trump’s YouTube video about his administration’s top priorities mentioned cyber. If you want to know something about what was behind that unusual focus, read this op-ed by one of the top candidates for Deputy Defense Secretary, former Air Force Secretary Mike Wynne. Read on. The Editor. Academics… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: While the DC parlor game of musical chairs gathers steam (see headline), some outlines of how President Donald Trump will govern are emerging. Look for two principles to govern much of how Trump initially manages the fundamental truth that people are policy. First, strong deputies will be chosen to ensure mistakes aren’t made and things… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: A top candidate for the Pentagon’s No. 2 position is Mike Wynne, the former Air Force Secretary who has been an advisor to Donald Trump for some time. We only have one source on this and can’t identify the source in any way, so put this one in the good rumor basket. Wynne was… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The next Director of National Intelligence may be Pete Hoestra, the Dutch-born former head of the House Intelligence Committee, and the next Army Secretary is likely to be Van Hipp, head of consulting firm American Defense International, according to a source who advises President-elect Donald Trump on national security issues. Van Hipp, a former Army officer, first… Keep reading →

Throughout this presidential campaign, the candidates have barely discussed the most important elements of national security, the United States’ armed forces. We’ve tried to flesh things out, with the excellent force structure and budget analyses done by Mark Cancian of the Center for Strategic and International Analyses. But Mark had to work with very few… Keep reading →

“The F-35 is flying, it is a real thing, and progress is real,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh recently said in Japan.  Several countries, including Russia and China, are working on fifth generation fighters, he noted. Even if the United States does not go to war with these countries, it will inevitably have to… Keep reading →

UPDATED: SAIC‘s Deborah Lee James Rumored To Be Strong Contender For Secretary WASHINGTON: The longest serving Secretary of the Air Force, Mike Donley — harbinger of changing times for the service — is leaving his post after almost five years. [Click here to read a series of op-eds Sec. Donley wrote for Breaking Defense on… Keep reading →

The start of a new year and of a new administration is a good time to think about the future. A key challenge facing the new Obama administration and the Congress is to ensure that US military capabilities continue to innovate and evolve in challenging times. Paul Bracken has underscored that we are in a… Keep reading →