There is something happening in WESTPAC that needs a closer look. In addressing China’s push in to the sea, the Western response is almost reflexive – and bellicose. Via David Larter at NavyTimes; The U.S. military’s top commander in the Pacific is arguing behind closed doors for a more confrontational approach to counter and reverse China’s strategic gains in the South China Sea, appeals that have met resistance from the White House at nearly every turn. Adm. Harry Harris is proposing a muscular U.S. response to China’s island-building that may include launching aircraft and conducting military operations within 12 miles… Read the rest of this entry »
In 2010, author Michael Lewis wrote The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine. It has since become a major motion picture. The plot unfolds around the creation of the credit default swap market that “shorted” the collateralized debt obligation (CDO) bubble, precipitating the housing crisis and global financial collapse of 2007. The book describes a private financial and government regulatory system so blind to its own vulnerabilities that it trundles towards failure of epic proportions. Lewis points to three key enablers of this collapse: 1) A system so large and convoluted that no one truly understands it 2) Individuals who act… Read the rest of this entry »
“It is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able to adapt and to adjust best to the changing environment in which it finds itself.” — Attributed to Charles Darwin. The Rate of Change We live in exponential times. Does anyone still own an old-fashioned, original iPhone? New products hardly hit the street before they are superseded by something newer and better. Technology seems to change daily, before our eyes. In fact, the rate of technological change is increasing, as the… Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Adaptability, Force Architecture, R&D, Technology, Third Offset, Unmanned Systems
Please join us at 5pm (EDT) on 3 April 2016 for Midrats Episode 326: Undersea Lawfare with RADM Johnson, USN (Ret) and CAPT Palmer, USN DARPA image Since its ascendency to the premier maritime power, the US Navy – especially in the area of undersea warfare – has been at the leading edge of using technology to get a military edge. During the Cold War, significant and steady progress in the first two steps of the kill chain against submarines, location and tracking, made the prospect of engaging superior numbers of Soviet submarine forces manageable. We continue that tradition today,… Read the rest of this entry »
In 2008, just before the official stand-up of the new Combatant Command in Stuttgart, Germany, I listened to General “Kip” Ward, AFRICOM’s first Commander, discuss his first trip around the continent to talk to key leaders of African nations, militaries, and government organizations like the African Union. He made an important observation during this presentation that I never forgot. I’ll paraphrase his comments as follows: He said, you know, we in the military have a lot of acronyms and terms. We just throw them out in conversation and expect everyone to get it . . . But you have to… Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Obangame, Saharan Express, Senegal, U.S. Naval Forces Africa
How did we get here, to this place pointed out to us by Kyle Jahner at ArmyTimes? Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley has repeatedly complained about the convoluted, slow and expensive acquisitions process, and cited the Modular Handgun System program as a glaring example. “We’re not figuring out the next lunar landing. This is a pistol. Two years to test? At $17 million?” Milley said to an audience at a Washington, D.C., think tank on March 10. “You give me $17 million on a credit card, and I’ll call Cabela’s tonight, and I’ll outfit every soldier, sailor, airman… Read the rest of this entry »
In 2015, innovation initiatives took center stage at the Department of Defense (DOD). The U.S. Navy, for example, stood up its Task Force Innovation, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) created Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx), an innovation nexus in Silicon Valley. These efforts signal innovation’s place in reversing the erosion of DOD’s technological edge. However, with all eyes on defense innovation, there is an increased danger that it will succumb to buzzword fatigue—a condition brought about when a word has been so exhaustively used that no one knows its original intent or ultimate purpose. DOD is… Read the rest of this entry »
America and her partners stand astride the greatest alliance in world history. Thanks to globalization, massive coalitions, and cutting edge science and technology, we appear to be the drivers of global events. Nevertheless, present influence is often a poor predictor of future performance in the wars of nations. Technological advantage has never been more crucial in warfare, nor has it ever been so easy and quick to displace, or be displaced by, another power. The lethality and decentralization of military technology have risen in tandem, allowing renegade sects to acquire deadly missiles and advanced cyber technology for sums that wouldn’t… Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: DOD, Innovation & Risk, junior officers
Everyone has their own name for the series of conflicts spinning off from the waxing of the most radical interpretation of Sunni Islamic Extremism, but with each passing incident, I become more and more comfortable with “The Long War.” At its core, this is a religious war, and those wars last the longest time as you are not fighting primarily for land, resources, power, or ego – but for ideas and the pursuit of a home for your immortal soul. Many are not comfortable with that concept, but they need to get over it. Regardless of what your motivations are,… Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Belgium, Counter-Terrorism, terrorism, The Long War
Arleigh Burke was a hard-charger by nature, never content to rest on his laurels. Thus at the Battle of Blackett Strait–a victory for the United States–Burke was unhappy. Commanding a Destroyer Squadron, he was on the bridge of his flagship, looking out for the Japanese destroyers Murasame and Minegumo. When his radar operator picked up a ship close to shore, Burke hesitated to fire at first. Sure enough, the contact had been one of the Japanese ships, and Burke’s hesitation allowed them to get within weapons range. A battle ensued, thankfully resulting in the sinking of both enemy destroyers. Burke, frustrated with himself,… Read the rest of this entry »
Recent Posts
- White Hulls to the Front in WESTPAC
- The Camouflaged Short: Inside the Next Doomsday Machine
- The Second Derivative and the Third Offset
- On Midrats 3 April 2016, Episode 326: Undersea Lawfare with RADM Johnson, USN (Ret) and CAPT Palmer, USN
- Exercise Obangame/Saharan Express: Enabling African Solutions to African Problems
Tags: China, indonesia, Japan, Vietnam