Category: Emerging Defense Challenges

Disrupt or Be Disrupted: How Governments Can Develop Decisive Military Technologies

By James Hasik and Byron Callan

Just what makes a military technology disruptive? How does one know who will disrupt, and who will be disrupted? How can we aim to develop disruptive technologies, and how can we spot them before others use them to disrupt our security? In the latest issue brief from the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, “Disrupt […]

Are Robotics Disruptive?

By James Hasik

Ascertaining who will benefit most from unmanned technologies. Are robotics a disruptive military technology? Popular conception holds that to be obvious, but a team from RAND argues otherwise. In their new study “Armed and Dangerous? UAVs and US Security”, they observe that robotic aircraft cannot today defend themselves, but less permissive scenarios are now of […]

Enders’ Game

By James Hasik

Transnational Armaments Development Without the Horror Last week, Airbus CEO Tom Enders spoke in our Captains of Industry series on “The State of European Defense”. Russian misbehavior to the east notwithstanding, it’s a challenging market. Particularly challenging has been trying to manage multinational development projects like those of the NH90 helicopter and the A400M airlifter. After the experience […]

Orbital Plus ATK Means Focus for Innovation

By James Hasik

Cost savings and consolidation can’t explain investors’ enthusiasm. Investors love the pending merger between Alliant Techsystems (ATK) and Orbital Sciences (ORB). In overnight trading after Monday’s announcement, NYSE:ATK increased 5 percent, and ORB increased fully 19 percent. Together, that’s an expectation that this tie-up is worth over half a billion dollars to the combined owners. Whence that value is flowing […]

Transcript: Atlantic Council Captains of Industry with Thomas Enders, CEO, Airbus Group

Welcome: Brent Scowcroft, Chairman, International Advisory Board, Atlantic Council Moderator: Frederick Kempe, President and CEO, Atlantic Council Speaker: Thomas Enders, CEO, Airbus Group

Webcast: Captains of Industry Series with Thomas Enders, CEO, Airbus Group

Please join us on April 30 from 2:00 to 3:15 p.m. for an address and discussion with Thomas Enders, CEO of Airbus Group. An introduction will be offered by Brent Scowcroft, Chairman of the Atlnatic Council’s International Advisory Board.Frederick Kempe, President and CEO of the Atlantic Council will moderate.

Cooperative or Competitive?

By James Hasik

Lessons on restructuring the defense industry from the Virginia submarine program The price of American submarines is coming down. As announced early this week, the US Navy has signed a contract with General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB) and Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) to deliver, from now through 2023,  ten Block IV Virginia-class submarines for $17.6 billion. What’s remarkable […]