A nation where leaders and a large chunk of the population either can’t tell fact from fiction — or deliberately won’t — can be exploited, whether internally by opportunists or externally by adversaries. This was the weakness Russia manipulated to tip the 2016 election in Trump’s favor with a disinformation campaign that cost about $100 million, the price of a single F-35 stealth fighter.
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.
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 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.
The urgent coronavirus crisis has not eclipsed pre-existing strategic conundrums like Russian threats to Europe and NATO and the urgency of adapting the alliance to meet them. Moscow shows no sign of negotiating on Ukraine or reducing its information warfare and other threats to European security, quite the opposite.
Former Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld famously said you go to war with the army you have, not the army you want. Fortunately, the army we have is ready to go to war against a new enemy: the rapidly spreading coronavirus that poses a grave danger to our neighbors in all 50 states.
Capt. Tim Hill, USN, the commanding officer of the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems in Orlando, discusses the future of military training and simulation with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. Our coverage is sponsored by Leonardo DRS.
On this week’s Cyber Report, Patrick Cronin, PhD, the chair for Asia-Pacific Security at the Hudson Institute, discusses China and 5G technology and cyber risks with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. Northrop Grumman sponsors the Cyber Report and our cyber coverage.
Rear Adm. Sam Perez, USN Ret., the president and CEO of the Amphibious Warship Industrial Base Coalition, discusses the Trump Administration’s 2021 Navy Budget Request, the US Marine Corps new vision of distributed amphibious operations and integrating USN-USMC operations and planning with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian. The interview was conducted at the AWIBC’s annual congressional breakfast on Capitol Hill on Feb. 11, 2020.
Thomas Nilsen, the editor of the Independent Barents Observer, discusses Russia, climate change in the Arctic, the outlook for increased maritime traffic and China’s interest in the region with Defense & Aerospace Report Editor Vago Muradian at the residence of Norway’s ambassador to the United States in Washington, DC. The ambassador hosted “Looking North: Conference on Security in the Arctic,” organized by the Atlantic Council think tank.