Opinion

A message from Normandy, 82 years later

In remembrance of eight U.S. service members who received the Congressional Medal of Honor for their actions during the D-Day assault and the Normandy campaign that followed.

Reintroduce nuclear weapons to the Pacific to reduce the chances of war with China

By reintroducing US theater nuclear forces first in South Korea, and then more gradually in Japan, Washington can reassure its anxious allies and bolster its own national security interests, argue Kyle Balzer and Robert Peters.

The KC-46 has finally landed in Israel. The US needs to keep pushing forward.

Israel now has its own KC-46, but the US needs to do much more to help grow Israel's tanker force, argue Justin Leopold-Cohen and Bradley Bowman.

Sovereignty can’t be vibecoded: Why Europe must physically build to ensure resilience

Amid debates over budget and policy, Europe must prioritize building the physical infrastructure required to sustain technological and defense capabilities at scale, argue Elin Hammarberg and Carina Zaring.

The new Indo-Pacific security architecture: From hub-and-spoke to allied security web

This is the latest in a series of semi-regular columns by Robbin Laird, where he will tackle current defense issues through the lens of more than 45 years of defense expertise in both the US and abroad. The goal of these columns: to look back at how questions and perspectives of the past should inform decisions being made today.

The case for a $24 Billion Special Operations budget

SOCOM's budget has been flat since FY2019, but demand for SOF capabilities has risen 300 percent in the past five years, argue former acting SecDef Chris Miller and Phil Anderson of SOF Action.

Six key takeaways about Iran’s missiles, two months into the war

From the necessity of air defense to the perils of dwindling stockpiles, here are a few key considerations after more than 10 weeks of long-range strikes from Tehran.

The next Army chief won’t inherit a force, he’ll inherit an argument

The next Army chief needs to show that land power is still vital and relevant for modern warfare that's heavily focused on drones, writes John G. Ferrari in this op-ed.

Firewalls won’t protect GEOINT companies. Cyber resilience will, if we act now. 

As cyberattacks increasingly aim to disrupt operations rather than just steal data, GEOINT providers need models that can continue operations under attack, Norman Laudermilch writes.

Synthesized Command & Control: A new way human choices can guide AI warfighting

Two AI experts propose a new way to train artificial intelligence for warfighters.

Russia’s windfall from the Iran war is temporary. Ukraine’s isn’t.

Kyiv, unlike Moscow, has secured strategic advantages from the war in Iran, writes Artur Kalandarov.

President Trump should secure America’s nuclear future by taking weapons out of DoE

America’s nuclear weapons arsenal is too central to national defense to be buried inside the Department of Energy, argues Franklin C. Miller and Frank A. Rose.

Multi-sourcing, MOSA, and producibility form next-level defense acquisition reform 

If the Pentagon wants more resilient supply chains, it must stop buying proprietary products and start building programs around multi-sourced and competitive projects.

The history of America’s long-term efforts to plan for a war with China [BOOK EXCERPT]

In this excerpt from his new book, 'War Plan Taiwan,' Rowan Allport details the history of US planning for a conflict with China in defense of Taiwan.