Commentaries
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The ‘Warfighting Acquisition System’ and What it Means for Weapons Development
By Paul Maguire, Defense Opinion Writer. For decades, the Department of Defense has operated on a model that assumes time is an ally. The reality of 2026 and the array […]
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Iran Conflict Reaffirms Need for More Aircraft Carriers
By Steven Willis, Defense Opinion Writer The most important naval lesson emerging from the ongoing conflict with Iran is the continuing value of aircraft carriers and their embarked air wings […]
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The Pentagon’s AI Acceleration Challenge
By Zhenia Klevitsky, Defense Opinion Writer The Department of Defense’s race to operationalize artificial intelligence (AI) has entered a new phase. The fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) allocated significant […]
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Optimizing Data Centers to Meet Growing Mission Demands
By Jason Dunn-Potter, Defense Opinion Writer A century ago, innovation in national defense wasn’t defined by data, but by dominance. After World War I, the aircraft carrier became one of […]
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Small Businesses Struggle to Contribute to National Defense
By Nancy Langer, Defense Opinion Writer Whenever I was in a tight spot in a war zone I always thought, “why don’t I have a gun?” As a humanitarian I […]
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Why Brussels’ Spectrum Move is About More than Satellites
By Jean-Francois Morizur, Ph.D., Defense Opinion Writer. European Commission leaders recently said they want to reserve two-thirds of a coveted spectrum band for operators working within the EU. This is a proposal, and […]
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Human Judgment is the Artificial Intelligence Edge
By Jonathan Aberman, Defense Opinion Writer. The Department of Defense (DoD) is moving fast on artificial intelligence (AI). Very fast. With $13.4 billion requested for AI and autonomous systems in fiscal year […]
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Fix the Jones Act—Don’t Scuttle It
By Steven Wills, Ph.D., Defense Opinion Writer. The maritime legislation commonly known as the Jones Act of 1920 requires vessels moving goods between U.S. ports to be U.S.-built, U.S.-flagged, and U.S.-crewed. Critics […]
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Batteries, Critical Minerals are a Major U.S. Vulnerability
By Michael Purzycki, Defense Opinion Writer. Rivalry between the U.S. and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is likely to be a defining characteristic of international affairs for many years […]
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Keeping Defense Operations Connected
By Michael Chappell, Defense Opinion Writer. Military personnel frequently operate in austere environments. They face unreliable communications, limited bandwidth, and unexpected disruptions to connectivity. The situation is so common that […]