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Art of Future Warfare

Sep 23, 2015

To cyber the kill chain, cyber the supply chain

By James Hasik

When safeguarding the global commons, should we rely on it less? Defense Secretary Ashton Carter would like to stop buying and launching navigation satellites—at least as a military project. Sure, Lockheed is testing GPS III, and a team at the University of Texas is working on centimetric accuracy without differential. Through the MEOSAR project, the Canadian military […]

Cybersecurity Defense Industry

Defense Industrialist

Sep 23, 2015

Take the money

By James Hasik

Defense contractors are repurchasing shares because investment incentives are lacking. About a month ago (14 August 2015), Politico Pro highlighted how the largest US defense contractors are running their businesses substantially for cash, passing as much of their earnings as they can to shareholders as dividends and share repurchases. “Top Pentagon officials,” the reporter went on, “have […]

Defense Industry Economy & Business

Defense Industrialist

Sep 23, 2015

Airplane guys versus bean counters

By James Hasik

The battle for the soul of the American military, part 2 On Monday, I wrote of how Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett Packard, who is running for president, wants a bigger Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. A large part of the solution involves cutting staff at headquarters, and in streamlining management. The corporate parallel is […]

Defense Industry Security & Defense

Emerging Defense Challenges

Sep 21, 2015

Grundman on the Latest Acquisition System Performance Evaluation

By Steven Grundman

Inside Defense quotes M.A. and George Lund Fellow for Emerging Defense Challenges Steven Grundman on the latest acquisition system performance evaluation and whether the Better Buying Power Initiative has been successful:

Defense Industry Security & Defense

Defense Industrialist

Sep 21, 2015

PowerPoint guys versus bean counters

By James Hasik

The battle for the soul of the American military, part 1 Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett Packard, who is now running for president, wants a bigger Army, a bigger Navy, and a bigger Marine Corps: 50 brigades, 300 to 350 ships, and 36 battalions. How would she pay for it? The debate at which she […]

Defense Industry Defense Policy
Hasikgrah

Defense Industrialist

Sep 8, 2015

If a Weapon Were a Three-Piece Suit

By Steven Grundman

Think of defense contracting in four distinct market types. Several recent headlines— “Senators Call For Oversight On LRS-B Cost Estimates” “Oshkosh Wins JLTV Award” “Kendall ‘Open-Minded’ On Sharing RD-180 Replacement Costs” “Can Secretary Carter win over Silicon Valley?” —got me thinking about menswear and defense acquisition and why they are both so persistently difficult. It’s the […]

Defense Industry Security & Defense

Defense Industrialist

Sep 2, 2015

From Germany, With Love

By Magnus Nordenman

European arms sellers are helping shape Asian security. Washington worries increasingly about developments in the Asia-Pacific region. The Pentagon has done more than publish a maritime strategy for that part of the world—it has begun to shift military assets that way. Yet it is often said that this is a region in which Washington will […]

Defense Industry Indo-Pacific

Defense Industrialist

Sep 1, 2015

Not such a silly fly-off

By James Hasik

An A-10C versus F-35A experiment could be edifying, if designed well. Politico Pro and Bloomberg have been reporting of late that the Pentagon’s Office of Test & Evaluation (OT&E) is planning a series of head-to-head close air support tests between the A-10C and the F-35A. USAF Chief of Staff General Mark Welsh had previously called […]

Defense Industry Security & Defense

Defense Industrialist

Aug 28, 2015

JLTV—Going slow to go fast

By James Hasik

A conversation with John Bryant of Oshkosh Defense  Yesterday morning I had the opportunity to sit down with John Bryant, a senior vice president at Oshkosh Defense, to talk about his company’s big win this week. Before retiring from the Marines, the colonel was an acquisition program manager; afterwards, he taught program management at the […]

Defense Industry Security & Defense

Defense Industrialist

Aug 26, 2015

JLTV

By James Hasik

If it can hold on, Oshkosh’s win may restructure the military truck industry. The US Army and the US Marine Corps have chosen their supplier for Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTVs), their replacement for Humvees, and supplement to MRAP All Terrain Vehicles (M-ATVs). For now, and presumably the next decade, that supplier is Wisconsin’s Oshkosh […]

Defense Industry Security & Defense

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