New CNAS Project on "Beyond Offset: Will the United States Maintain Its Military Edge?"

Washington, October 21 – The Center for a New American Security is pleased to announce a major new project, “Beyond Offset: Will the United States Maintain Its Military Edge?” The project will examine how the U.S. military can maintain its technological advantage through a period of declining defense budgets.
 
Co-chaired by the Honorable William Lynn III, former Deputy Secretary of Defense and CEO of Finmeccanica North America, and the Honorable Michèle Flournoy, CEO of the Center for a New American Security, the project will be co-directed by Shawn Brimley, Executive Vice President and Director of Studies and Ben FitzGerald, Director of the Technology and National Security Program.
 
The Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense have both stated publicly that they believe the U.S. military is losing its technological edge. To remedy that decline they have commenced an initiative to assure the U.S. military’s technological edge through the next several decades. Based on the ‘offset’ strategy of the late 1970s, which spurred development of game-changing technologies that helped underpin U.S. defense strategy for decades, this new effort comes at a critical time in the debate over Pentagon policy and investment priorities.
 
The Beyond Offset project aims to build a community of interest that will examine the challenges of U.S. technology strategy and advance candidate solutions for the Pentagon and industry. The project will release a number of reports, co-host discussion and debate on War on the Rocks – the popular online platform on strategy and defense – and convene a variety of public events.
 
You can participate by following developments at the CNAS Beyond Offset project site and at the War on the Rocks Beyond Offset site, submitting papers of your own to War on the Rocks ([email protected]) and participating in discussion on Twitter using #beyondoffset.
 
To speak with Project Co-Directors Ben FitzGerald and Shawn Brimley, please contact Neal Urwitz at [email protected] or call 202-457-9409.