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Archive for the ‘Future Warfare’ Category

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010 at 9:16pm

China’s Sea-Based Nuclear Deterrent in 2020

Posted by Tom Skypek in American Foreign Policy, China, Future Warfare, U.S. Nuclear Policy

As part of my nuclear fellowship with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), I authored a piece on the future of China’s sea-based nuclear deterrent. This article was recently published by in a collection of essays on nuclear issues: A Collection of Papers from the 2010 Nuclear Scholars Initiative (Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2010). The are some outstanding essays in the collection on a range of important nuclear topics.

My article examines the burgeoning nuclear capabilities of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). The intent of the article is to draw attention to Chinese investment in its nuclear forces. There is no shortage of literature examining Chinese conventional military modernization efforts; but judging by recent…

No Comments Tags: China, Deterrence, Jin-class SSBN, JL-2 SLBM, Nuclear Policy, Nuclear Posture, People's Liberation Army Navy, SSBN, Type 094 Submarine, Xia-class SSBN

Thursday, December 17th, 2009 at 11:59am

Insurgents Hack U.S. Predator Drones with $26 Software Package

Posted by Tom Skypek in Cyber Warfare, Iraq

Unreal.

No Comments Tags: Insurgents Hack Predator, Iraq

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 7:43pm

Congress Should Launch All-Star Commission to Examine Cyber Threats

Posted by Tom Skypek in American Foreign Policy, China, Cyber Warfare, Future Warfare

A report issued last month by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission concluded: ”China is likely using its maturing computer network exploitation capability to support intelligence collection against the U.S. Government and industry by conducting a long term, sophisticated, computer network exploitation campaign.” For the last decade, China has been conducting ”hacker attacks” and network intrusions against U.S. Government and private sector computer networks. In June 2008, Congressman Frank Wolf (VA-10th) revealed that computers in his office had been hacked; authorities concluded that the attacks originated in China. Last May, I argued in The Washington Times that our lack of a declaratory cyber deterrence policy makes us weaker as a nation by…

No Comments Tags: Cyber Warfare, Frank Wolf, Ian Bremmer, Mitt Romney, People's Liberation Army, Richard Rumelt, Sergey Brin, Steve Jobs, U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 at 2:20pm

New Cyber Attacks Showcase Need for Cyber Deterrence Policy

Posted by Tom Skypek in Cyber Warfare

The AP is reporting on a new round of cyber attacks that targeted computer networks at the Treasury Department, Federal Trade Commission and Secret Service. Other targets are reported to have included the White House, Pentagon, and New York Stock Exchange. W. David Gardner of InformationWeek reports that the attack was even more expansive, including more than 25 targets:

Law enforcement officials in the U.S. and South Korea were stepping up their efforts Wednesday to halt a rash of denial of service cyber attacks against more than 25 government agencies and companies. While the source of the attacks wasn’t pinpointed as of Wednesday morning, officials said they suspected the attacks originated in North Korea or from groups…

1 Comment Tags: Cyber Attack, Cyber Deterrence, North Korea Cyber Attck

Saturday, August 23rd, 2008 at 7:20am

Change You Can Believe In: Sen. Joe Biden?

Posted by Tom Skypek in Defense Transformation, Media, Nuclear Proliferation, The American Presidency

Sen. Joe Biden has been tapped as Sen. Barack Obama’s running mate. Biden has been in Washington since 1972 when he was first elected to the United States Senate. He is a smart guy but a rather loquacious fellow, which has gotten him in trouble several times. Clearly, the Obama campaign felt the need to offset Sen. Obama’s gross lack of experience on national security and believed that Sen. Biden would do just that. Sen. Biden is currently the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

However, this pick is a sign of desperation for the Obama campaign, which has begun to see the writing on the wall. The reality is that Obama’s small lead in public opinion polls has completely…

No Comments Tags: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, John McCain, Vice President

Friday, July 18th, 2008 at 1:00am

The Obama Iraq Documentary: Whatever the Politics Demand

Posted by Tom Skypek in Defense Transformation, Iraq, Media, The American Presidency

Here’s an excellent video, chronicling Sen. Obama’s many positions on Iraq.

No Comments

Thursday, July 17th, 2008 at 3:02pm

New Media, Information Warfare and the U.S. Army

Posted by Tom Skypek in Defense Transformation, Media

David Axe posted a very interesting piece today in The Danger Room. He examines the emerging role of new media in the U.S. Army:

Senior Army leaders have fallen behind the breakneck development of cheap digital communications including cell phones, digital cameras and Web 2.0 Internet sites such as blogs and Facebook, Army Secretary Pete Geren said at a trade conference on July 10. That helps explain how “just one man in a cave that’s hooked up to the Internet has been able to out-communicate the greatest communications society in the history of the world — the United States,” Geren said, according to Inside Defense. (Subscription required.)

“It’s a challenge not only at home, it’s a challenge in recruiting,…

No Comments Tags: Facebook, Information Warfare, MySpace, New Media, YouTube

Friday, July 4th, 2008 at 4:07am

Defense Transformation and the Next Administration

Posted by Tom Skypek in Defense Transformation

As the general election gears up, questions surrounding defense and national security are likely to dominate the national discussion. While defense transformation remains an important issue for the Defense Department, it will most likely be lost in policy debates about Iraq and Iran. But defense transformation is not an arcane policy issue; rather it is critical to ensuring that the U.S. retains its preeminent position in world affairs. Simply put, transformation refers to the optimal alignment and development of capabilities, organizations and processes in support of the warfighter to reflect the ever-changing nature of warfare. It is an issue that will confront the next president of the United States.

Current U.S. military operations are a case in point. The Defense Department must…

No Comments Tags: Defense Transformation, Donald Rumsfeld, Mitt Romney