Interviews & Articles

Latest Content

• The Present and Future Value of Persistent Long-Range Strike
  Lieutenant General (ret) Robert Elder is the Former Commander, 8th Air Force Command for the US Air Force recently spoke to IDGA about the present and future value of persistent long-range strike capabilities, explaining how, among other things, these capabilities can be used to influence—to deter, assure, or coerce—actor behaviors.

Interviews

• The Great Debate: Evaluating the Ethics & Advantages of UCAVs for Long Range Strike
  The US government has earmarked more than 5 billion over the next five fiscal years for a number of long-range strike programs, highlighted by a new long-range bomber for the Air Force and an unmanned carrier-launched surveillance and strike system for the Navy. This interview features Dr. Bill Powers, Research Fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, Center for Emerging Threats and Opportunities at the Marine Corps War Fighting Lab. The interview explores the advantages of, and the ethical considerations for the use of UCAVS for America's Long Range Strike ability. Read more...
• The Nuclear Taboo of American Sea Power
  In an IDGA exclusive interview, Mackenzie Eaglen, Research Fellow for National Security at the Heritage Foundation explores the current plight and pitfalls of US maritime power. Eaglen explains the air-sea battle concept and the joint efforts involved to make this a success. Download the interview here.
• Amy Woolf: Prompt Global Strike Capabilities
  The ability to conduct superior long-range strike operations has long given the US an important military advantage. In an exclusive interview with IDGA, Amy Woolf, Specialist in Nuclear Weapons Policy, Congressional Research Service, explores the concept of prompt global strike capabilities and how this can give the U.S the ‘leading edge’ over their adversaries. Read the interview here.

Whitepapers

• Sustaining America’s Strategic Advantage in Long-Range Strike
  The ability to conduct long-range strike operations has long provided the United States with a decisive military advantage over its enemies. Today, that advantage is dissipating. Despite the crucial role long-range strike capabilities have played in our nation’s wars over the last seventy years, chronic underinvestment in the US military’s long-range strike “family of systems” — land-based bombers, carrier-based strike aircraft, cruise missiles and supporting airborne electronic attack capabilities — combined with the creeping obsolescence of current systems could lead to a future force that is relegated to fighting on the periphery and cannot effectively penetrate anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) battle networks. Download this whitepaper here. Author: Mark A Gunzinger
• Conventional Prompt Global Strike and Long-Range Ballistic Missiles: Background and Issues (A. Woolf)
  Prompt global strike (PGS) would allow the United States to strike targets anywhere on earth with conventional weapons in as little as an hour. This capability may bolster U.S. efforts to deter and defeat adversaries by allowing the United States to attack high-value targets or “fleeting targets” at the start of or during a conflict. Congress has generally supported the PGS mission, but it has restricted funding and suggested some changes in funding for specific programs. Read more here. Author: Amy F. Woolf Specialist in Nuclear Weapons Policy.

Podcasts

• Dr. Bill Powers on LRS for Amphibious Operations
  Dr. Bill Powers, Colonel (ret), Research Fellow for the US Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory, talks about umanned aerial systems development for long-range strike in support of amphibious operations. Dr. Powers analyzes ISR deployment for improved precision strike capabilities, the role of unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs) in the long-range strike mission, and ethical concerns regarding the use of UCAVs.
• Dr. Donald Cook on the Modernization of the US Nuclear Deterrent
  IDGA speaks with Dr. Donald L. Cook, Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration. Dr. Cook discusses current efforts to maintain and improve the safety and security of US nuclear weapons, how the nuclear deterrent capability is integrated into the US national security posture, and the latest efforts to revitalize current weapon systems.
• Dr Bill Powers on UCAVS and Long Range Strike
  Dr Bill Powers explores the following questions:
  
  Can you explain how ISR can be used to make our UCAVs more effective?
  
  What would you highlight as the benefits of UCAVs and what they present, but what also are the ethical concerns?
  
  A few years ago, you wrote that the Marine Corps should make the development of UCAVs and UCAV squadrons one of the top warfighting priorities, how do you think these priorities have evolved in the last few years and what’s next?

Articles

• Thinking About a Day Without Sea Power: Implications for U.S. Defense Policy
  Abstract: America is a maritime power, and a strong U.S. Navy is both in America’s long-term interest and essential to the nation’s prosperity. Yet U.S. sea power is in decline. If not reversed, this decline could pass the tipping point, leaving the country economically and strategically unable to reverse course, which would have profound economic and geopolitical consequences. Members of Congress and the Navy need to work together to develop long-range technology road maps, foster innovation, and properly fund and manage shipbuilding to ensure that the future Navy has the size and capabilities needed to protect and advance U.S. interests around the world. Author: Mackenzie Eaglen and Bryan McGrath
• Our Last Manned Strike Aircraft? The Marine Corps is being left behind by Col William Powers, USMC(Ret)
  The citizens and political leaders of our Nation have become increasingly averse to combat casualties as our military has outstripped the conventional and technological capabilities of every other force in the world. We have become so good at what we do that the expectation is that we can go to war, defeat our enemy in a matter of days or weeks, and do so with minimal loss of life—on both sides. (2008). Read more.

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