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May 15, 2015

Grundman on Pentagon Outreach to Silicon Valley

By Steven Grundman

M.A. and George Lund Fellow for Emerging Defense Challenges Steven Grundman speaks with Federal News Radio on the Department of Defense’s outreach efforts to Silicon Valley: Listen to the broadcast here.

Defense Industry Security & Defense

In the News

May 11, 2015

Ullman: A Dear John (McCain) Letter

By Harlan Ullman

Atlantic Council Senior Adviser Harlan Ullman writes an open letter to John McCain for Defense News on the importance of reducing cost growth in the Department of Defense and the US military:

Defense Industry Security & Defense

Defense Industrialist

May 8, 2015

Strengthening and Defending Ukraine

By Blake Franko

How reforming an arms industry can save a country Ukraine currently finds itself struggling against separatists in the East, but the solution to this problem might not rest in foreign aid and weapons. The Ukrainian military industrial complex has been a significant player in the country’s economy and can help to supply Kiev’s own defensive […]

Defense Industry Saudi Arabia

Defense Industrialist

May 4, 2015

The Pentagon’s Offset Strategy Needs A Big Idea

By Steven Grundman

The reflex to gain military leverage from yet another technological revolution is misguided. It seems clear what is foremost for Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work these days. At the Pentagon’s April 9 press conference endorsing “Better Buying Power 3.0,” Work said the impetus for his new “offset strategy” is an urgent concern about “a steady erosion of our […]

Defense Industry Security & Defense

Defense Industrialist

Apr 29, 2015

Skip a generation of strike fighters? Maybe, Ray.

By James Hasik

Whatever happens with the F-18E or F-35C, the US Navy needs a carrier-based drone now. Earlier this year, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert said that he believed that the F/A-XX, the Navy’s planned eventual follow-on to the F-35C, would be “optionally manned“. On 15 April at the Sea-Air-Space conference, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus leaned further […]

China Defense Industry

Defense Industrialist

Apr 24, 2015

The Global Arms Trade: “Hyundaisation” Threat from New Suppliers?

By Richard Bitzinger

The concern is overblown, and traditional arms exporters in the US and Europe will continue to dominate the global arms trade for some time. A RECENT article in the Wall Street Journal (“The ‘Hyundaization’ of the Global Arms Industry,” April 5, 2015) puts forth a provocative argument, namely that “new defence exporters are joining the […]

Defense Industry Israel

Defense Industrialist

Apr 22, 2015

Bomber Command

By James Hasik

The USAF’s consolidation of heavy bombers in one formation may spur productive intra-service rivalry, and new roles for long-range aircraft. The US Air Force announced this week that it will be consolidating all its heavy bombers in its Global Strike Command. This realignment will be culturally significant, as it will provide a single organizational home to all big bomber crews, including […]

China Defense Industry

Corporate Strategy Forum

Apr 3, 2015

Rafales, Not Rules

By James Hasik

While Foggy Bottom and the Pentagon and the White House make policy, the Élysée Palace makes sales. King Abdullah wants drones, and 23 US congressmen want to loan Jordan some American Predators for the duration of the war. The Emirates want drones, and my colleague Bilal Saab told the Beirut Daily Star that industry there is getting quite capable making […]

Defense Industry France

Defense Industrialist

Apr 1, 2015

What Does Shay Assad Mean by “Fair Price”?

By James Hasik

Pentagon pricing policy should aim for long-term value, not an economically intractable concept. Shay Assad, the Pentagon’s director of pricing policy, has had over his tenure a tense relationship with industry. At a private meeting at the Aerospace Industries Association last week, and in an interview with Reuters this week, Assad insisted that his accountants haven’t been always and everywhere […]

Defense Industry Security & Defense

Defense Industrialist

Mar 11, 2015

Treaty Limitation Spurs Military Innovation

By James Hasik

Boeing and Saab’s ground-launched glide bomb is quite possibly a brilliantly cost-effective supplement to close air support. The defense trade press has devoted a flurry of coverage over the past two days to Boeing and Saab’s announcement that it recently tested a ground-launched version of the GBU-39B Small Diameter Bomb (SDB). The 250-pound unitary is a clean replacement of the cluster munitions on […]

Defense Industry Security & Defense

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