"In a conflict between NATO and Russia, the United States should be prepared to face an adversary that not only possesses advanced space and counterspace capabilities but has also learned lessons during the invasion of Ukraine about how to target Western space assets most effectively," finds a new Space Force-commissioned study.
The RAND study warns that due to "inflated threat perceptions" about US intentions, Chinese leaders tend to "interpret U.S.-led efforts to establish crisis communication mechanisms or broader space norms as tools to control China's behavior."
Why edge and endpoint security can’t be an afterthought.
“This is just crazy,” agreed Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Bill LaPlante.
Budget dysfunction in DC can disrupt Pentagon programs and leave allies hanging. The US needs to reform its budgeting process to support its leadership role, two RAND scholars argue.
"The prospects for complete success in deterrence of hostile attacks on space assets, particularly reversible, nondestructive attacks, are limited," the RAND study cautions.
RAND and the Special Competitive Studies Project brought together technology experts from outside the Pentagon to help run a wargame around China and Taiwan. These are the findings.
The GPS network continues to prove its unmatched reliability, and it’s only getting stronger.
“What we've really been trying to wrestle with inside of CDAO is not to over centralize because the department is so diverse and distributed and so large, that we want innovation to happen at the edge,” said Margaret Palmieri, deputy chief digital and AI officer.
It’s 10,000 kilometers from L.A. to Taipei. How will supplies cross that vast distance in event of war with China? Two RAND experts argue only Congress can force the services to work together.
“I’m confident that the Senate is ready to rapidly confirm a nominee,” Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc., said. “I’ve had many conversations to that effect.”
Experts believe Ukraine's near-term will be a grueling marathon between the West’s ability to churn out arms and Russia’s capacity to suffer.
Reducing cognitive overload on warfighters while improving “time to trust” for autonomous systems is a matter of design.
After Moscow’s invasion, nuclear aspirants like Iran or nuclear powers like China may have learned dangerous strategies.
Early results from a DC think tank's wargame suggest the US would prevail in defending Taiwan from China, but at a heavy cost that would leave it ill-prepared for new threats from Russia or Iran.
Even if Russia "manages to take control of the territory of Ukraine, the Russian military’s underlying problems with professionalization may handicap these occupiers in their efforts to maintain control over that country for the long-term," write two RAND experts.
NATO leadership should start planning now so that if Sweden and Finland make the jump to joining the alliance, they can be welcomed in quickly, writes Gene Germanovich of RAND.