The counterroadside bomb mission is particularly important because as the Islamic State group retreats in Iraq, it leaves mines and other explosive booby traps, said Mark Gunzinger of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment think tank in Washington, D.C. “Those are a real problem for U.S. forces, much less Iraqi troops, so I do think that would be a priority mission,” said Gunzinger, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense.

Mark Gunzinger, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington, D.C., think tank that focuses on defense policy, said it’s too soon to say which of the four competitors may have a leg up. It’s not yet clear, he said, whether the Air Force wants the jet for training only, or intends to also give it a combat or air defense mission, or qualify it for sale to friendly foreign governments.

Bryan Clark is former Special Assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations and Director of the CNO’s Commander’s Action Group. He’s now Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. He and his colleague Mark Gunzinger are writing in Breaking Defense about how to make BBP better; Bryan talked about those ideas on National Defense Week.

Reforming the U.S. military’s acquisition system has been a hot issue since Congress replaced the Continental Army’s first Quartermaster General in 1777. Despite near-continuous efforts to reduce waste, accelerate schedules and control costs, these efforts have rarely achieved their intended results.

On February 9, RealClearPolitics hosted an event which examined the future of missile defense in the U.S. How do we protect from the increasing threats from Russia, Asia and Iran? What are the best ways to combat the vastly different existing threats, including cruise range missiles, long range missiles and the Russian counter missiles? What innovations and technologies will help us protect our homeland and defend our allies?  CSBA’s Mark Gunzinger participated in one of two panel discussions.

As the United States (U.S.) foreign focus shifts from a region where there has been a general freedom of access for intelligence gathering assets, leaders must consider that many regions containing near-future threats do not grant U.S.forces the permissive access that they have become accustomed to. Developed nations like Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran are among the locations that the military and State Department once again consider to be top threats. These potential threats simply will not allow foreign powers like the U.S.to have complete freedom of movement and will actively work against attempted U.S. intelligence operations...