America has two years to field the capabilities needed to continue deterring an every more emboldened and capable China. Biden’s defense team will have to move fast make long-overdue changes to field new capabilities and operational concepts to maintain the nation’s deterrent edge.
Navy Secretary Ken Braithwaite was on the mark by naming the latest Virginia-class submarine for Barb in memory of Gene Fluckey’s legendary World War II boat. It’s time the Navy continues this tradition and brings back other historic names to the submarine force. Those who served aboard nuclear submarines named for their illustrious World War II predecessors all note the pride what that heritage represented. Each of those boats carried aboard them the flags their namesakes flew in battle, tangible touchstones that instilled pride and esprit de corps in their crews.
The Trump administration’s plan to cut 12,000 US troops from Germany will hurt NATO, undermine America’s global reputation, help Russia by reducing US troops in Germany by a third and stoking discord among key alliance members, and waste time and money.
Whoever wins the presidency in November must take a cue from President Eisenhower to craft a similar long-term approach toward China — as well as Russia — and shape a force needed to deter, and if necessary, defeat both, but on a budget.
The fire aboard the US Navy amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard in San Diego raises profound questions about the competence and capacity of the service and its leadership — with budget, strategy and deterrence implications.
The Cyberspace Solarium Commission’s recommendations must be implemented now because its time for America to step up its cyber game at a time when more people are more vulnerable than ever. Failing to act to study job descriptions is simply inexcusable when you’re in the midst of a crisis than demands putting someone in charge of the battle and getting rounds on target.
The recent deadly skirmish between China and India in a disputed border area has fueled a necessary debate over how best to respond to an increasingly belligerent Beijing. As the only pressure that moves Beijing is when the world unites against it, it’s imperative the international community quickly organize to compel Chinese leaders to change course before they do something we all will regret.
Washington no longer has the luxury of unnecessary duplication of capabilities, programs of incremental value, systems that are vulnerable or cause more logistical headaches than they solve.
The reassessment of America’s legacy platforms, concepts of operations and assumptions must be clinical, empirical and unsentimental.
Anything that poses novel and costly problems for our adversaries, holds their forces at risk, heightens their uncertainty or complicates every element of their planning deserves to be prioritized. Anything that doesn’t should be sacrificed to free resources for what will.
As the Navy ramps up its great power game, it must learn Ford’s lessons to ensure major new programs like ballistic missile submarines, frigates, a surface warship and large- and medium-displacement unmanned vessels, a large unmanned tanker aircraft and more are successfully and quickly executed.
Self-satisfied blabbing about US cyber prowess at a time when too much of America’s government or civilian cyber infrastructure — whether cities large and small, facilities, businesses, communications systems and even cars — remain vulnerable to hacking or worse, attack is downright foolhardy and dangerous. Before bragging about how its breaking into the networks of other nations with a proven ability to be persistent cyber foes, it’s vital the administration do more to secure America’s infrastructure first.