There are times and places in the history of war in which improvements in firepower force anyone in range to take cover instead of advancing, as machineguns and howitzers did a century ago on the infamous Western Front. The fundamental difference today is the width of the killing zone would be measured, not in hundreds or thousands of yards, but in hundreds or thousands of miles.

Presidents Putin and Trump will meet soon in Helsinki.  At a time of uncertainty in the US-Russia relationship, the meeting is an important step forward in clarifying that relationship, one that should be not reduced to a Trump tweet or a Putin chess move. Where it is being held is significant. Helsinki was part of the… Keep reading →

The stakes are high for President Trump’s nascent Space Force because a poorly integrated service is a price America cannot afford to pay. This means a careful, thoughtful, conditions-based approach must be followed to assess if and when an autonomous military space organization will provide the best path forward. All four services will contribute to… Keep reading →

The last time the US Army tried to modernize it spent $20 billion buying the Future Combat System, which was cancelled as it foundered. Is the Army repeating the same mistakes with its Big Six?

“Error is as important as malevolence,” Richard Danzig told me in an interview. “I probably wouldn’t use the word ‘stupidity,’ (because) the people who make these mistakes are frequently quite smart, (but) it’s so complex and the technologies are so opaque that there’s a limit to our understanding.”

UPDATED w/ Mahnken interview CAPITOL HILL: The US military is not ready for war against Russia or China, leading experts told the House Armed Services Committee this morning. How can Congress help? Champion new technologies that would otherwise drown in the Pentagon bureaucracy, they said, the way it did with the Predator drone and Tomahawk missile in… Keep reading →

CRYSTAL CITY: When the Chief of Naval Operations told the Navy in March to close its mouth about readiness issues he was heading in the wrong direction, a Marine and member of the House Armed Services Committee told the Surface Navy Association this morning. Rep. Mike Gallagher, who served two tours in Anbar Province before… Keep reading →

A clarion call. Our readers (being wise and smart) know what that means. Sen. John McCain issued one last night in a speech to the next generation of naval leaders at Annapolis. McCain’s words are aimed straight at the heart of the Republican Party and of our country: “We have to fight. We have to… Keep reading →

AUSA: 100 years after America entered World War I, the Army is honoring the service of its soldiers, complete with reenactors dressed in painstakingly detailed reproduction uniforms. Turns out a lot more science and engineering went into an infantryman’s kit than you might imagine.

American Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is paying his first visit to Asia this week. Just before he left, Acting Assistant Secretary of State Susan Thornton told reporters the Trump Administration “will have its own formulation” of the Pacific pivot, or the rebalance to Asia declared by the Obama Administration. “Pivot, rebalance, etcetera — that was a word that was… Keep reading →