Covering acquisition reform is one of this magazine’s strengths. It can be painful. The topic is abstruse, dense with details, subject to misunderstanding and incredibly important to taxpayers, Congress, the defense industry, allies and our adversaries. The Army has been a particularly ineffectual practitioner of acquisition reform, botching program after program for 20 years, so… Keep reading →

Robbin Laird is an old defense hand. Today, he’s a consultant and a member of the Breaking Defense Board of Contributors, but he served as special assistant for the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 1979-1983 and also worked on the National Security Council for two presidents. Here’s the piece he posted on his website, Second Line… Keep reading →

Donald Trump spirals downward. As long as he remains in the White House, we are called upon to do everything in our power to limit the damage he can do. Above all, there is the need to prevent a war of choice to disarm North Korea of its nuclear weapons. There are many reasons to… Keep reading →

  What should the United States and its allies do to improve their ability to stop North Korean missiles? Enhanced missile defense performance would be the best guarantee against a North Korean breakout. Should fighting occur, missile defense performance will determine how much of a time cushion is available to U.S. and allied offensive forces… Keep reading →

The shift from slo mo — counterinsurgency operations — to high intensity combat is a major challenge for the US military and its allies. It is a culture shift, a procurement shift and an investment shift. But mobilization is even more important than modernization. To get ready for this shift, our weapons inventory needs to… Keep reading →

UPDATED: We Run Op-Ed; Pentagon Announces LRSO Contract The Pentagon just awarded the third major contract in the modernization of the nuclear triad. First came the B-21 bomber. Then the Columbia-class submarine, to replace the Ohio class boomers. Two days ago they awarded Boeing and Northrop Grumman contracts to begin work on the new version… Keep reading →

Once again, America faces the prospect of a budget showdown come September. Defense companies are getting ready for the possible disruptions that attend. And, of course, Pentagon budgeteers, led by new Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, are rebuilding the fiscal 2018 request and preparing for disruption to the last of the 2017 spending. One of… Keep reading →

After threatening to rain four missiles around Guam, North Korea’s pudgy leader, Kim Jong-un appeared to back off today. The (spoof) official North Korean News Agency issued a fabulous tweet describing it, declaring: “Esteemed General Kim Jong-Un reprieves US colony of Guam, citing concern for ocelots and sea turtles. Fate of Los Angeles remains unclear.”… Keep reading →

The return of the Russian threat has spurred US allies to pay new attention to collective defense, not just in Europe but in the North Atlantic. No ally is more critical than Canada, strategically joined at the hip with the US in NORAD. Recently, I had a chance to interview the head of the Royal… Keep reading →

Since the end of the Cold War and then the Agreed Framework in 1994, the United States has engaged in a serial “Big Wink” with respect to denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. First, we officially dismissed the idea that the Chinese fund the North Korean nuclear and missile programs through five key banks in China.… Keep reading →