Al Mosher, senior director for international strategy at Leonardo DRS Tactical Systems, discusses the company's Mounted Family of Computer Systems (or MFoCs), how it helps the US military meet SWaP-C -- short for size, weight, power and cost -- goals, network security and more during an April 2018 interview with the Defense & Aerospace Report at the Association of the United States Army's 2018 Global Force Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama. Our coverage was sponsored by Leonardo DRS.

Petri Jokinen, head of MENA business at Patria, discusses product demand in the Middle East, business priorities in the Qatari market, customer feedback and more in a March 2018 interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the 2018 Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference (DIMDEX) in Qatar. Our coverage was sponsored by DIMDEX 2018.

Gen. Kevin "Chili" Chilton, USAF Ret., the former commander of US Strategic Command and a former NASA astronaut, discusses the US Defense Department's 2018 Nuclear Posture Review, why an integrated national strategy is needed to deter the Russian nuclear threat, the significance of forward-deployed US nuclear assets, North Korea and more in an April 13, 2018, interview at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies in northern Virginia.

Paul Jaffe, PhD, an electrical engineer in the US Naval Research Laboratory's Spaceflight Engineering Department, discusses space-based solar power, power beaming (or the transfer of solar energy to the Earth via microwaves or lasers), how a useful constellation would look and function, potential cost and timeline, and more during an April 11, 2018, interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted at the Navy League’s 2018 Sea-Air-Space Symposium outside of Washington. Our coverage was sponsored by Fincantieri Marine Group, Huntington Ingalls Industries and Leonardo DRS.

Vice Adm. Dave Johnson, USN, principal military deputy to the US Navy's assistant secretary for research, development and acquisition, discusses accelerating Navy acquisition, the service's priorities for its future frigate and more during an April 11, 2018, interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. Our coverage was sponsored by Fincantieri Marine Group, Huntington Ingalls Industries and Leonardo DRS.

Brien Bolsinger, vice president for marine operations at GE Aviation, discusses how the evolution of naval power is changing the company's approach to marine propulsion, programs it's pursuing (including the US Navy's future frigate competition), how the LM6000 industrial gas turbine engine is giving it an edge over its competitors and more during an April 10, 2018, interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted at the Navy League’s 2018 Sea-Air-Space Symposium outside of Washington. GE is one of the Defense & Aerospace Report's site sponsors. Our coverage was sponsored by Fincantieri Marine Group, Huntington Ingalls Industries and Leonardo DRS.

Gene Young, senior director for military business development at Airbus Helicopters, discusses why the company's H135 offering is well-suited to the US Navy's training helicopter requirements, how low maintenance costs can compensate for higher acquisition costs associated with a twin-engine aircraft, and more during an April 11, 2018, interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted at the Navy League’s 2018 Sea-Air-Space Symposium outside of Washington. Our coverage was sponsored by Fincantieri Marine Group, Huntington Ingalls Industries and Leonardo DRS.

Dave Alexander, president of aviation systems at General Atomics, discusses the company’s offering for the US Navy’s MQ-25 Stingray unmanned tanker aircraft competition during an April 11, 2018, interview with the Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted at the Navy League’s 2018 Sea-Air-Space Symposium outside of Washington. Our coverage was sponsored by Fincantieri Marine Group, Huntington Ingalls Industries and Leonardo DRS.

Samuel Bendett, associate research analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses’ Russia Studies Program and fellow in Russian studies at the American Foreign Policy Council, discusses Moscow's pursuit and use of artificial intelligence, the RB-109A Bylina electronic warfare system, weapons development, sanctions impact, and more during an April 10, 2018, interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted at the Navy League’s 2018 Sea-Air-Space Symposium outside of Washington. Our coverage was sponsored by Fincantieri Marine Group, Huntington Ingalls Industries and Leonardo DRS.

Col. James “Hondo” Geurts, USAF Ret., US Navy assistant secretary for Research, Development and Acquisition, discusses his strategy for harnessing small business, gauging the military-industrial base's health and more during an April 2018 interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted at the Navy League's 2018 Sea-Air-Space Symposium outside of Washington. Our coverage was sponsored by Fincantieri Marine Group, Huntington Ingalls Industries and Leonardo DRS.

Alan Brown, vice president for weapons and sensors at L3 Technologies, discusses its Advanced Low-Cost Munitions Ordnance program (also known as ALaMO), why its guided projectile is a good fit for the US Navy’s Mk110 57mm gun, its performance characteristics, market prospects and timeline during an April 10, 2018, interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian.The interview was conducted at the Navy League’s 2018 Sea-Air-Space Symposium outside of Washington. Our coverage was sponsored by Fincantieri Marine Group, Huntington Ingalls Industries and Leonardo DRS.

Charlie McCullough, director of maritime business development at BAE Systems' Platforms & Services, discusses the company's 57mm Mk110 Gun System -- designed for use on the Littoral Combat Ship and National Security Cutter -- and its Adaptable Deck Launcher during an April 10, 2018, interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted at the Navy League's 2018 Sea-Air-Space Symposium outside of Washington. Our coverage was sponsored by Fincantieri Marine Group, Huntington Ingalls Industries and Leonardo DRS.

Thomas Modly, US Navy under secretary, discusses how the service needs to think differently to prepare for great-power competition, the rationale behind his proposed clean-sheet education review, driving efficiency and more during a wide-ranging, April 11, 2018, interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted at the Navy League’s 2018 Sea-Air-Space Symposium, held April 9-11, 2018, outside of Washington. Our coverage is sponsored by Fincantieri Marine Group, Huntington Ingalls Industries and Leonardo DRS.

Vice Adm. Thomas Moore, USN, commander of Naval Sea Systems Command — also known as NAVSEA — discusses the US Navy’s March 2018 request for proposals to acquire two Ford-class aircraft carriers under one contract to help the service save money, cutting acquisition costs for new carriers and other warships, reducing the service’s ship-repair backlog and much more during a wide-ranging, April 10, 2018, interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted at the Navy League’s 2018 Sea-Air-Space Symposium, held April 9-11, 2018, outside of Washington. Our coverage is sponsored by Fincantieri Marine Group, Huntington Ingalls Industries and Leonardo DRS.

Air Traffic Controller Chief Shelly Cosman, the senior adviser for air traffic control at the US Navy Space and Naval Warfare Command's Systems Center Atlantic, and Richard DeForest, integrated product team lead for air traffic control at the center, discuss the new version of the Visual Information Display System (or VIDS), the program's evolution and tentative timeline during an April 10, 2018, interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted at the Navy League’s 2018 Sea-Air-Space Symposium, held April 9-11, 2018, outside of Washington. Our coverage is sponsored by Fincantieri Marine Group, Huntington Ingalls Industries and Leonardo DRS.

Vice Adm. Bill Merz, USN, deputy chief of naval operations for warfare systems, discusses a 355-ship force to address great-power threats, fleet-mix priorities and more during an April 10, 2018, interview with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted at the Navy League’s 2018 Sea-Air-Space Symposium, held April 9-11, 2018, outside of Washington. Our coverage is sponsored by Fincantieri Marine Group, Huntington Ingalls Industries and Leonardo DRS.

Jim Miller, business development director for combat vehicles at BAE Systems, discusses the company's Mobile Protected Firepower and Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle programs, a potential AMPV engineering variant that's being developed internally and more during a March 2018 interview with the Defense & Aerospace Report at the Association of the United States Army's 2018 Global Force Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama. Our coverage was sponsored by Leonardo DRS.

Bluffing may work in poker and real estate, but not when dealing with the most dangerous country in the world. And history has taught that escalating rhetoric by inexperienced or misguided leaders has unintended consequences.

Since 1909, the Paris Air Show has served as a showcase where the newest military-, commercial- and general-aviation aircraft make their international debuts. And for years, organizers have been hungry to feature the F-35 Lighting II, a game-changing Lockheed Martin jet that promises to transform air combat with its stealth and sophisticated sensor and networking capabilities.

With tensions running high on the Korean peninsula, it’s time for President Trump and his team to tone down the saber rattling and craft a sanctions and diplomatic strategy to address a growing threat to the United States and its allies.

To pay for the controversial wall along America's border with Mexico, hire more immigration agents to police it and deport illegal immigrants, and boost defense spending, the Trump administration wants to cuts billions from three agencies that are also vital to US national security: the State Department, Coast Guard and Transportation Security Administration.

Donald Trump’s election as America’s 45th president has fueled optimism on both Wall Street and in the defense industry of brighter times ahead. During the campaign, Trump labeled the US military as broken, pledged to scrap the Budget Control Act and boost Pentagon funding. And with Republicans in control of the White House and Congress promising to scrap the BCA, there was optimism about a Reagan-esque modernization buildup.

Last week, after more than five decades of service during which she became the US Navy’s most iconic and revered warship, the USS Enterprise was decommissioned. It was the Big E’s uniqueness is what made her so special.

Since taking office, President Donald Trump has vowed to increase spending to improve the nation’s defenses, grow the US economy and toughen security along the America’s borders. With military spending to increase over the coming few years, it’s vital to invest in a more capable Coast Guard given the service’s key role in supporting Trump’s aims.

Now that Donald Trump has been elected the America’s 45th president, it’s vital he transition from campaign rhetoric to building thoughtful, detailed and realistic defense plans.

At the Zhuhai Airshow last week, China formally debuted its J-20 stealth fighter, prompting comparisons to America’s stealthy super fighter, the F-22. Some dubbed the J-20 China’s F-22 clone. That sounds interesting, but is far from the mark as the two jets couldn’t be more different, driven by the differing needs of the countries that developed them.

In the early 1990s, any time you asked US Navy leaders how many aircraft carriers American had, their answer was “not enough.” Today, the same thing can be said about the Navy’s submarine force. At the moment, America has 52 nuclear attack submarines. That’s more than any other nation in the world, but still not enough to support US global needs. Despite rising Russian and Chinese investment in newer, more capable and quieter submarines combined with more powerful and longer-range cruise and ballistic missiles that hold land bases and surface ships at risk, Navy leaders several years ago decided 48, more modern subs are enough.

As Congress considers more changes to how the Pentagon buys goods and services, lawmakers should read DoD’s latest annual report on the performance of the defense acquisition system. The report illustrates consistent efforts by Pentagon leaders over the past eight years are paying off: cost growth on major programs is now at a 30-year low. That’s a remarkable achievement for senior leaders like Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall who made cost control a priority by curbing requirements, mitigating risk, increasing competition, improving acquisition workforce professionalism and making decisions based on data rather than emotion. The combination is saving billions of dollars a year. You’d think that such progress would be rewarded by Congress. Instead, the future of Kendall’s office – created by the landmark 1986 Goldwater-Nichols legislation to bring oversight over out-of-control military programs – is, again, in jeopardy.

For years, China hawks have warned that Beijing is playing a very sophisticated multipronged strategy make good its territorial claims in the region. Two of China’s levers are well known – an increasingly powerful military to intimidate its neighbors and tremendous economic leverage that it can use we either reward or punishment. The third, according to analysts, is Beijing’s financial support for politicians across the region who once elected will steer their nations toward a pro-China path. Russia has employed similar tactics, bankrolling alternative movements across Europe to undermine NATO and the EU. And the new Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is one of those candidates.

In "Trump's 2019 Missile Defense Budget: Choosing Capacity over Capability," a February 28, 2018, installment of the Center for Strategic and International Studies' CSIS Briefs series, Tom Karako, PhD, director of CSIS' Missile Defense Project and a senior fellow in its International Security Program, and Wes Rumbaugh, an research assistant with the ISP, analyze the missile-defense side of the Trump administration's FY19 budget request, identify its priorities and shortfalls, lend historical context and deem the proposed budget "inadequate" to combat "the threat for both ballistic and nonballistic missile attack."

"The Malicious Use of Artificial Intelligence: Forecasting, Prevention, and Mitigation," a February 2018 joint report from the Center for a New American Security, the Future of Humanity Institute, the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, the University of Cambridge, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and OpenAI, looks at the potential for artificial intelligence to be weaponized in the digital, physical and political security domains, predicts the future AI threat landscape and offers preventative recommendations for policymakers to combat the risk of misused AI. "This report surveys the landscape of potential security threats from malicious uses of artificial intelligence technologies, and proposes ways to better forecast, prevent, and mitigate these threats," the report reads. "We analyze, but do not conclusively resolve, the question of what the long-term equilibrium between attackers and defenders will be. We focus instead on what sorts of attacks we are likely to see soon if adequate defenses are not developed.

In "Overview of the 2019 President's Budget Request for Defense," a Feb. 15, 2018, report from the Center for a New American Security, authors Susanna Blume, a CNAS Defense Strategies and Assessment Program fellow, and Lauren Fish, a research associate with the program, provide a bird's-eye look at what the White House's FY19 defense-budget request means for readiness, procurement, research, development, test and evaluation, the Missile Defense Agency, US Army, US Navy, US Marine Corps and US Air Force, and the US Defense Department, as a whole. "Even in these times of increasing budgets, DoD must still make tough decisions about what to prioritize and where to accept risk," they write.

In "Power and Influence in a Globalized World," a February 2018 joint report from the Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, the University of Denver's Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures and the Hague Center for Strategic Studies, authors Jonathon Moyer, PhD, Pardee Center director, Tim Sweijs, HCSS research director, Mathew Burrows, PhD, director of Scowcroft's Foresight, Strategy, and Risks Initiative, and Hugo Van Manen, a junior consultant at Ecorys, present "the Foreign Bilateral Influence Capacity (FBIC) Index," which looks to take an intersectional approach to evaluating the power and influence of global states. "The FBIC is tasked with identifying the key influencers in the international community, and analyzing those that register above or below their weight in the world, altogether clarifying where the United States and others stand in the international system," the Atlantic Council writes. "The FBIC Index is based on the interaction between states, as well as the relative dependence of one state on another.

In his February 2018 report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies' International Security Program, Col. Mark Cancian, USMC Ret., a senior adviser at CSIS, argues that "the return of great power competition" after a seven-decade-plus hiatus makes dealing with strategic surprise an urgent matter. "This study, therefore, examines potential surprises in a great power conflict, particularly in a conflict’s initial stages when the interaction of adversaries’ technologies, prewar plans, and military doctrines first becomes manifest," he writes. "It is not an attempt to project the future. Rather, it seeks to do the opposite: explore the range of possible future conflicts to see where surprises might lurk."

In "Reforming the U.S. Approach to Data Protection and Privacy," a February 2018 report from the Council on Foreign Relations, author Nuala O'Connor, president and CEO of the Center for Democracy & Technology, argues that the US is lagging behind other Western nations when it comes to personal-data protection, since the existing data rules are lackluster and differ between different sectors. "U.S. citizens and companies suffer from this uneven approach—citizens because their data is not adequately protected, and companies because they are saddled with contradictory and sometimes competing requirements," the report reads.  "It is past time for Congress to create a single legislative data-protection mandate to protect individuals’ privacy and reconcile the differences between state and federal requirements."

"With Great Power: Modifying US Arms Sales to Reduce Civilian Harm," a January 2018 joint report from the Center for Civilians in Conflict and the Stimson Center, highlights the "legal, moral, repetitional, and strategic risks" posed by the illicit acquisition or use of weapons built or sold by the US,  "describes major gaps and risks in the US arms sales process" that make negative consequences more likely "especially for civilians in conflict" and presents "recommendations for the State and Defense Departments and the US Congress." 

"Can the United Nations Unite Ukraine?" a February 2018 report from the Hudson Institute, written by Richard Gowan, non-resident fellow and research director at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation, and a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, proposes ways in which NATO could intervene in Ukraine without launching a formal NATO or EU mission in the country -- which the author calls "politically inconceivable" at this point in time. "More credible alternative options include: an operation under U.N. command involving military, police and civilian components; a mission involving an independent military Multinational Force (MNF); and U.N.-led police and civilian elements," he writes. He adds that the chosen option will have to ensure "a stable and secure environment throughout the Donbas," enable "elections for representatives to the Ukrainian Rada in eastern Ukraine"   and supervise "public order and the civilian dimensions of reintegration." 

"Defense Planning in a Time of Conflict: A Comparative Analysis of the 2001-2014 Quadrennial Defense Reviews, and Implications for the Army," a Jan. 31, 2018, report from the RAND Corporation, analyzes the aforementioned years'  QDRs through the lenses of "organization and process, strategy development, force planning, modernization and transformation, resources, defense reform and infrastructure, risk assessment, and reception" and "identifies trends, implications, and recommendations for the Army and U.S. Department of Defense, in order to shape the conduct of and improve future reviews," according to RAND's website. "Most QDRs did not adequately address either the growing portfolio of demands on the force or risks associated with different end strengths and mixes of active- and reserve-component forces," the site reads. "To avoid a similar outcome, future defense reviews should focus on assessing the adequacy of U.S. forces to support the chosen strategy at an acceptable level of risk and on characterizing the budgets needed to support those forces in the near, mid-, and long terms." Learn more about the report here."Most QDRs did not adequately address either the growing portfolio of demands on the force or risks associated with different end strengths and mixes of active- and reserve-component forces," the site reads. "To avoid a similar outcome, future defense reviews should focus on assessing the adequacy of U.S. forces to support the chosen strategy at an acceptable level of risk and on characterizing the budgets needed to support those forces in the near, mid-, and long terms."

"Navigating Dangerous Pathways: A Pragmatic Approach to U.S.-Russian Relations and Strategic Stability," a January 2018 report published by the Center for a New American Security and co-authored by James Miller Jr., PhD, president of Adaptive Strategies and a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center, and Richard Fontaine, CNAS president, offers "concrete recommendations for managing each of the three pathways" that their September 2017 report "A New Era in U.S.-Russian Strategic Stability: How Changing Geopolitics and Emerging Technologies are Reshaping Pathways to Crisis and Conflict" identified as having the potential to lead "to crisis or conflict" between the United States and Russia. "The aim is to help shape the ongoing debate regarding U.S.-Russian relations and guide actions affecting U.S. nuclear posture, ballistic missile defenses, cyber deterrence, and space resilience," they write. "The recommendations also address the American role in NATO and NATO-Russian relations, both of which are of critical importance to all three pathways."

In a Feb. 2, 2018, report entitled "The Return of Political Warfare," Seth Jones, PhD, Harold Brown chair, Transnational Threats Project director and International Security Program senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says that US defense strategy must be take unconventional warfare, and especially political warfare, into consideration "since the costs and risks of conventional and nuclear war may be prohibitively high" for it and the countries it sees itself as competing with. "Recognizing that other powers routinely conduct political warfare, George Kennan encouraged U.S. leaders to disabuse themselves of the 'handicap' of the 'concept of a basic difference between peace and war' and to wake up to 'the realities of international relations—the perpetual rhythm of struggle, in and out of war,'"  Jones writes. "Kennan’s advice may be even more relevant today in such a competitive world."

READ THE REPORT -- In "Keeping A2/AD at Bay: The Imperative for Base Defense in the Western Pacific," a new report from the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, Lt. Col. Thomas R. McCabe, USAF Ret., argues that the United States must view the Western Pacific as a frontline and prepare its aircraft, assets and bases in the region for conventional attack due to China's development and deployment of "modern military systems, especially conventional ballistic and cruise missiles."  Further, he writes, "leaders should consider several countermeasures, including dispersal, passive defense, and active defense" in anticipation of such an attack. Learn more about the report here.