CSBA in the News

Putting offensive capabilities like long-range missiles on the islands would be “a very destabilizing move,” said Andrew Krepinevich, former president of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. Such assets would be intimidating in a crisis, but so vulnerable in an actual shooting war that China would face the temptation to “use it or lose it.” “Given the small size of the islands, the missiles would be highly vulnerable, as they could not rely on mobility or hardening to provide passive defense against attack,” said Krepinevich.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has developed a 130-foot boat that can prowl the seas unmanned. Military officials think it can be effective in detecting submarines. For an assessment of whether this is where we’re headed, Pentagon Solutions turned to Bryan Clark, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. 

Beijing may be using the shoal as a bargaining chip, rather than actively seeking to establish another military outpost there, some analysts said. “They imply that they may want Scarborough Shoal, then they will back off and show that they are a good international player,” said Bryan Clark, a former senior adviser to the chief of naval operations who is now an adviser at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a think tank in Washington.

As things now stand, the Marine Corps does not expect to return to optimal aviation readiness levels until at least 2020 — assuming the service gets all the money it needs between now and then, Paxton told members of the House March 3. But the Marines may have to face another budget shock. 

Kate Blakeley, a research fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, said Thornberry’s approach is a “high-risk, high-reward ploy” for defense hawks on Capitol Hill.

Kate Blakeley, a research fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, made a similar argument, noting that the acquisition reform language in the House Armed Services Committee’s draft National Defense Authorization “is not really about cost. … It’s really about time, being faster in bringing things on line.”… And, Blakely added, a major cause for slow procurement is that “Congress tends to micromanage.”