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CSBA Adds Barbara Humpton, Randy Forbes, Adam Frankel to Board of Directors

The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments has appointed Barbara Humpton, Randy Forbes and Adam Frankel to its board of directors. CSBA President and CEO Thomas Mahnken, said in a statement that the convergence of military and economic instruments is crucial to the national security debate and the new board members’ experiences reflect this intersection.

In the News

Why You Can’t Shoot Terrorists with Lasers, Yet

That emphasis on targeting the enemy’s stuff rather than enemy troops was the case on Wednesday. Lt. Gen. Marshall B. Webb, the head of Air Force Special Operations Command, laid out an operational scenario: pilots on a dangerous raid might use a laser mounted on an orbiting gunship to take out an enemy truck and a drone. Webb has said that he wants to test a laser aboard an AC-130J within a year. Webb, who was speaking at the Direct Energy Summit in downtown Washington, D.C., was asked about targeting humans. “My intent right now is to prove we can do a demo and do some specific things with this: control the beam; contain jitter,” he said.

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US Navy Will Prototype Many Sizes and Types of Combat Lasers and Missile Defense Wants Laser on Long Endurance Stratospheric Drone by 2025

This ability to learn through prototypes and experiments has always been resident in the MDA but is new for the Navy. The Navy recently created a Surface Navy Laser Weapon System program as its very first Rapid Prototyping, Experimentation and Demonstration (RPED) project, which allows the service to put new technologies in the field, learn lessons early to reduce risk, and decide whether and how to proceed before spending too much money, Rear Adm. Mike Manazir, deputy chief of naval operations for warfare systems (OPNAV N9), said at the summit, cohosted by Booz Allen Hamilton and the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

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US Missile Defense Agency Aims for High-Power Laser Tests in 2021

Accordingly, the agency plans to first explore if lasers can be made light enough to fly on a UAV while also being effective at standoff ranges, Rear Admiral Jon Hill, MDA's deputy director, said during 29 March remarks at an event sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton and the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

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Will Hybrid Warfare Protect America’s Interests in the South China Sea?

The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA), in a recent report, argued for the expansion of the unmanned fleet, with 40 additional, larger, ocean capable unmanned ships – a goal that received praise and strong backing by Senator John McCain. The United States already has the perfect testing ground for exploring its current and future unmanned system and to further explore the various tactical and strategic frameworks in which they would prove most valuable.