Adam Saxton
Stories by Adam Saxton
As defense budgets face post-COVID cuts, everyone wants to axe “legacy” systems. But the services define “legacy” very differently from defense reformers.
By Mark Cancian and Adam Saxton
The United States could not make enough military equipment fast enough to sustain its military in the event of a major war. While much thought has been given to how a great power conflict might erupt or play out, far less has been written on how the U.S. industrial base could sustain U.S. wartime equipment…
By Mark Cancian and Adam Saxton
A smaller 2021 budget and greater funding demands for nuclear weapons development mean the end of plans by the four services to expand their numbers. Rising budgets have allowed the Pentagon to maintain old planes, ships, armored vehicles and other weapons, grow the force and invest in new weapons. The reduced topline in fiscal 2021…
By Mark Cancian and Adam Saxton
Planning for a 21st century Navy of unmanned vessels, distributed operations, and great power competition has collapsed. Trapped by a 355-ship force goal, a reduced budget, and a fixed counting methodology, the Navy can’t find a feasible solution to the difficult question of how its forces should be structured. As a result, the Navy postponed…
By Mark Cancian and Adam Saxton
As defense budgets face post-COVID cuts, everyone wants to axe “legacy” systems. But the services define “legacy” very differently from defense reformers.
By Mark Cancian and Adam SaxtonThe United States could not make enough military equipment fast enough to sustain its military in the event of a major war. While much thought has been given to how a great power conflict might erupt or play out, far less has been written on how the U.S. industrial base could sustain U.S. wartime equipment…
By Mark Cancian and Adam SaxtonA smaller 2021 budget and greater funding demands for nuclear weapons development mean the end of plans by the four services to expand their numbers. Rising budgets have allowed the Pentagon to maintain old planes, ships, armored vehicles and other weapons, grow the force and invest in new weapons. The reduced topline in fiscal 2021…
By Mark Cancian and Adam SaxtonPlanning for a 21st century Navy of unmanned vessels, distributed operations, and great power competition has collapsed. Trapped by a 355-ship force goal, a reduced budget, and a fixed counting methodology, the Navy can’t find a feasible solution to the difficult question of how its forces should be structured. As a result, the Navy postponed…
By Mark Cancian and Adam Saxton
Without recruit training, the services will lose .5 percent of their end strength every month (unless stop loss is imposed, and that has its own costs). Because the training pipeline is several months long, units will not feel that gap for several months, but when the pipeline begins to runs dry, units will shrink.
By Mark Cancian and Adam Saxton