When Iran Attacks
On January 8, 2020, Iran used ballistic missiles to attack U.S. air bases in Iraq, in response to the U.S.-targeted killing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) commander…
Category: Analysis
Catching Up: China’s Developing Military Power
For decades, China has engaged in a fervent game of “catch-up” with U.S. military capabilities. This effort, which has ballooned China’s defense spending to 620 percent of its 1990 level, is beginning…
FY 2020 Missile Defense Agency Budget Tracker
* The Senate NDAA transferred authorization for THAAD O&M and Procurement obligations to the Army. The Senate Appropriations Committee transferred appropriation obligations for Aegis BMD to the Navy and THAAD…
Iranian Missiles in Iraq
The Issue Iran-backed militias within Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) have acquired short-range ballistic missiles from Tehran, supplementing their existing arsenal of unguided rockets. These militias’ small, harassing rocket attacks…
A New Generation of Homeland Missile Defense Interceptors
Recent Pentagon actions have produced considerable uncertainty in the future of homeland ballistic missile defense. In August 2019, Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Dr. Michael Griffin cancelled the Redesigned Kill…
More Than Missiles: China Previews its New Way of War
The Issue China’s October 1 display of military hardware revealed a nation seeking to supplant the United States as the dominant military and technological power in the Asia-Pacific region. Many…
Don’t Waste This Lesson
How drone attacks reveal fixable flaws with American air defenses The attacks on the oil facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais in Saudi Arabia are neon flashing warning signs of the…
Trump’s Blind Spot
New missile defense plans depend upon the success or failure of one thing: a new layer of space-based sensors. At the January release of his administration’s new missile defense policy…
Achilles’ Heel: Adding Resilience to NATO’s Fragile Missile Shield
The Issue: Missile defense is a major part of the U.S./NATO strategy to counter Iranian aggression and limit damage in the event of conflict. The missile defense architecture currently protecting NATO…
Coup-proofing? Making Sense of Turkey’s S-400 Decision
On July 12, Turkey received the first elements of the S-400, a fourth-generation surface-to-air Russian missile system. Few recent weapon sales have been as geopolitically charged as this one. U.S….