Defense Industry

Defense Industry

The transition of the US military from focusing on counterinsurgency to deterring and defeating great-power rivals will require vigorous modernization of US and allied military capabilities. The United States must harness cutting-edge Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, while simultaneously developing new capabilities and operational concepts to employ these technologies in tandem with existing legacy systems.

“Not hesitant to use this power for corporate advantage”

EnergySource
Nov 14, 2024

Europe’s new industrial plan faces formidable obstacles

By
Andrei Covatariu

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has promised to put forth in her second term a new Clean Industrial Deal to mobilize investment in infrastructure and industry, and reduce dependence on energy imports. But energy supply challenges and geopolitical hurdles risk undermining plans to restore Europe’s industrial competitiveness.

Defense Industry
Energy & Environment

“Not hesitant to use this power for corporate advantage”

New Atlanticist
Oct 30, 2024

In defense of Draghi’s defense idea: Three models for a centralized defense procurer for the EU

By
Thomas Goldstein

Only a European defense procurer can provide the institutional reform to overcome intra- and intergovernmental paralysis and invest at scale.

Defense Industry
Defense Policy

“Not hesitant to use this power for corporate advantage”

New Atlanticist
Oct 28, 2024

The US needs a stronger defense industrial base. Option contracts can help.

By
Michael Hogan

The US government would pay a premium on current orders, but it would then have the option to purchase a larger amount within a fixed timeframe.

Defense Industry
Defense Policy

Content

Defense Industrialist

Dec 10, 2015

“Not hesitant to use this power for corporate advantage”

By James Hasik

Just how politically problematic is concentration in the defense industry? Back in September, Under Secretary of Defense Frank Kendall, the Pentagon’s procurement chief, took the trouble to make a rather forceful on-the-record statement about Lockheed Martin’s then-pending purchase of Sikorsky. He admitted that the deal posed no classical anti-trust concerns, but he worried about how even […]

Defense Industry Security & Defense

Defense Industrialist

Dec 10, 2015

Is the LRS-B urgently needed?

By James Hasik and Rachel Rizzo

The new bomber isn’t coming soon, but some stopgaps should be. Seven years ago, Robert Haffa and Michael Isherwood of Northrop Grumman’s Analysis Center argued that the US Air Force urgently needed a new bomber—indeed, by 2018. Enemy missiles, they thought, could shut down the remaining forward airfields from which American fighter-bombers could fly. Those […]

Defense Industry Defense Technologies

In the News

Dec 7, 2015

Bensahel on New Defense Spending Deal

By Nora Bensahel

Washington Examiner quotes Brent Scowcroft Center Nonresident Senior Fellow for Military Affairs and National Security Policy Nora Bensahel on how a new two-year defense spending deal will allow contractors to go on the offensive and lobby for more and bigger projects:

Defense Industry Security & Defense

Defense Industrialist

Dec 2, 2015

Bayonets, pistols, and JLTVs

By James Hasik

What three recent cases tell us about relative burdens in military procurement. Just the other day, I noted how outgoing Air Force procurement chief Bill LaPlante has been insisting that the Pentagon’s business of buying weapons has been improving over the past few years. Not everyone, however, is equally moved. On 18 November, at our […]

Defense Industry Defense Policy

Defense Industrialist

Nov 30, 2015

“We used to suck, and now we don’t suck as much.”

By James Hasik

Testing Bill LaPlante’s hypothesis of improving military acquisition The Lexington Institute’s Dan Gouré says that the much-ballyhooed Third Offset “will fail unless it first defeats the DoD’s acquisition system.” The department has again missed its goals for competing enough contracts. I myself have lamented how broken the acquisition system is. But as a retired Air […]

Defense Industry Security & Defense

Defense Industrialist

Nov 17, 2015

More bombs on Al-Baghdadi

By James Hasik

The GCC air forces need, deserve, and can handle outside support. The tragedy of Paris this past weekend may eventually prove to have been the beginning of the end for the Al-Baghdadi Gang in Al-Raqqah. Wantonly attacking the citizens of two UN Security Council members in a week wasn’t just heinous, it was stupid. So […]

Defense Industry Saudi Arabia

Defense Industrialist

Nov 7, 2015

LRS-B, the protest edition

By James Hasik

The inherent unknowables in this highly classified development effort render questionable the value of an appeals process. So Boeing, on behalf of its teaming arrangement with Lockheed Martin, has protested. Late last month, the US Air Force chose Northrop Grumman to develop and build its hoped-for Long-Range Strike-Bomber (LRS-B), and the losing bidder is naturally […]

Defense Industry Security & Defense

Defense Industrialist

Nov 4, 2015

Mystery plane, challenging mission

By James Hasik and Rachel Rizzo

Is the bomber’s target set feasible, or even advisable? What’s the most important role for the USAF’s planned Long-Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B)? What could it do that fighter-bombers, cruise missiles, and drones couldn’t? Arguably, a big manned bomber offers a unique combination of massive, repeatable, human-on-scene air power at a distance, which is valuable when […]

China Defense Industry

Defense Industrialist

Oct 30, 2015

Is the development plan for the LRS-B realistic?

By James Hasik and Rachel Rizzo

Historical experience with incentives and concurrency provides cause for cautious optimism. Is Northrop Grumman’s plan for developing the US Air Force’s new Long-Range Strike Bomber realistic? That’s another known unknown in this mystery plane program. We do know that the development contract will be cost-plus-reimbursable-incentive, meaning that a percentage will be added to the direct […]

Defense Industry Security & Defense

Defense Industrialist

Oct 29, 2015

Mystery plane, part 2

By James Hasik and Rachel Rizzo

Is the price tag for the LRS-B feasible? As Lara Seligman wrote in Defense News overnight, there’s a lot “we still don’t know” about the LRS-B, and as  development moves forward, there’s a lot we still won’t know. Northrop’s just-up website features not even the shrouded plane of its Super Bowl advertisement, but just a zoomie with a buzzcut and aviator sunglasses. On his earnings […]

Defense Industry Security & Defense
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Experts

Fellow

Robert Bassett Cross MC

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Forward Defense Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Defense Industry Defense Policy

Staff

Jenna Ben-Yehuda

Executive Vice President

Politics & Diplomacy Security & Defense

Staff

Charlotte Bertrand

Program Assistant

GeoStrategy Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

China Defense Industry

Fellow

Edward Brady

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Forward Defense Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Defense Industry Middle East

Fellow

Henrik Breitenbauch

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Transatlantic Security Initiative

Danish Defense Industry

Fellow

Justina Budginaite-Froehly

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Europe Center Transatlantic Security Initiative

Defense Industry European Union
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