If President Obama is intent on listening to military commanders, as he promised during the campaign, why is he now ignoring the military’s own requirement for additional F-22s? Why would the President want to compromise America’s half-century dominance in the air that has led to one powerful result: There has not been a single soldier or Marine who lost his life in combat due to a threat from the air in over 56 years. As legacy aircraft retire at ever-increasing rates, however, maintaining that superiority is not guaranteed. Sufficient numbers …
America’s ability to secure its vital national security interests is intrinsically linked to the capabilities of our Air Force. As the joint enabler, the Air Force’s core capabilities, such as air dominance and strategic lift, serve to enhance the capacity of the entire military. However, the Air Force is at a crossroads, given austere budget constraints that are forcing its leadership—and ultimately all airmen—to accept even greater risks. Despite a looming fighter gap, along with an aging bomber and tanker fleet, President Obama intends to end production of the F-22 …
This year, President Obama proposed cutting $1.4 billion from the Missile Defense Agency budget in an effort to focus on “rogue state and theater missile threats.” As part of this effort to supposedly ‘restructure’ the missile defense program, Obama also proposed limiting the planned deployment of interceptors in Alaska and California from 44 to 30. Now, after a week in which the U.S. has witnessed repeated missile tests by North Korea (and possible more to come), Obama’s Secretary of Defense appears ready to at least entertain the possibility of reducing …
As we have discussed before, President Obama’s fiscal year 2010 defense budget suffers from serious conceptual flaws concerning the nature of future warfare and the force structure the American military needs to fight and win. But there is another related issue that must merit the serious consideration of Congress as it prepares to make lasting decisions about the future: the stability and health of America’s defense industrial base. Since World War II, the United States has benefited from the skills of a robust defense manufacturing workforce. America’s Air Force and …
This Memorial Day, Heritage honors those who serve in the United States Armed Forces, their families, and all military retirees and veterans. From the battlefields of the Civil War–after which the first Memorial Day was observed–to the Forest of Argonne, the beaches of Normandy, the islands of the Pacific, the Chosin Reservoir, the jungles of Vietnam, the deserts of Iraq, the mountains of Afghanistan, and all the other fields, territories and theaters American soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen have fought bravely, we remember those fallen men and women …
This week, China celebrated the 60th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) with a large military parade to display to the world how far the PLAN has come and where it intends to go. The scope of China’s military advancements in recent decades was summarized well in the Pentagon’s new 2009 Report to Congress: On March 4, 2008, Beijing announced a 17.6 percent increase in its military budget to approximately $60 billion. China’s military budget doubled between 1989 and 1994, and almost doubled again between 1994 and 1999. …
Major 2010 defense budget cuts expected to be announced by Secretary Gates today are part of a broader theme laid out in last year’s National Defense Strategy and his Foreign Affairs article seeking more “balance” in the military’s equipment portfolio away from high-end systems to fight conventional wars and more toward counterinsurgency capabilities. In the Post-Cold War world, however, the United States has chosen through numerous defense strategies to embrace a global vision of the world consistent with broad interpretations of its national interests and international priorities. In short, America …
Last week President Obama took another opportunity to discuss his budget plans with the American people. As part of selling his $3.2 billion dollar budget, he has set his sights on defense acquisition reform and the time-honored tradition of promising greater cost savings by rooting out the fraud, waste, and abuse within the system. While reforming the acquisition system is a noble task, buried within the President’s language is the subtle message that he sees acquisition reform not just as an effort towards reforming the acquisition process, but also as …
This morning, President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum that aims to reform government contracting and, he claims, an effort that could potentially save taxpayers up to $40 billion. President Obama is right to ensure that “the American people’s money is spent to advance their priorities, not to line the pockets of contractors who have figured out how to work the system, or to maintain projects that don’t work.” He is also correct to “reject the false choice between securing this nation and wasting billions of taxpayer dollars.” Although the new …
Providing for the common defense is the primary responsibility of government as prescribed in the U.S. Constitution. Robust national defense is the first principle of government, without which all others fall away. Even though defense spending is at an historical low today (less than 4% of gross domestic product), many in Washington are already clamoring to use the military as a bill-payer for domestic programs. This is reality — and it’s a point I outlined Monday in Chicago at a forum on national security. Unfortunately, the seriousness of this threat …
