Publications

For over two decades, the U.S. military has enjoyed a near-monopoly in precision-guided weaponry and their associated battle networks. Recently, however, the proliferation of these capabilities to other militaries and non-state entities is gathering momentum.

This report describes how undersea competitions evolved over the last century, the disruptive trends that may lead to a new era in undersea warfare, and the elements that will comprise an effective approach to the next chapter in undersea competition.

Despite the recent ostensible improvements in relations between Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China, the deteriorating cross-strait military balance continues to worry leaders in Taipei.  Taiwan is long past the point where it can simply buy its way out of what has become a structural security deficit.  It urgently needs a radical rethink of its defense posture vis-a-vis China.

Within the next year, the Navy must take advantage of an uncommon opportunity to set the course for the future surface fleet or fall further behind competitors who will increasingly be able to deny U.S. forces access to their region.

This report provides a preliminary outline for an offset strategy that exploits and builds upon existing enduring U.S. capability advantages to restore and maintain U.S. global power projection capability. This effort is essential in order to improve crisis stability, bolster allied confidence in U.S. security commitments, strengthen conventional deterrence, reduce operational risk in the event of war, and compete more efficiently over the long run.

Each year, the Department of Defense (DoD) submits a Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) to Congress detailing the status, plans, and funding requirements for more than 80 major acquisition programs. The most recent SAR, submitted in December 2013, projects funding and quantities for major acquisition programs extending more than 30 years into the future. The SAR projects these programs will need $324 billion over the Future Years Defense Program (FYDP), spanning FY 2015 to FY 2019, and an additional $498 billion in FY 2020 and beyond.