Over the past 15 years, CNAS has shaped U.S. defense strategy and policy. Today, the United States must swiftly implement its defense strategy, develop innovative operational concepts, and undertake difficult institutional reforms to both meet the long-term challenges posed by great powers and short-term crises created by a diverse array of global actors. The CNAS Defense program addresses the central military challenges of today and tomorrow and assesses how to balance risk across time.
The Defense Program employs strategic, budgetary, and operational analysis and leverages innovative approaches such as wargaming to inform defense policy. We develop actionable policy recommendations on defense strategy, force structure, operations, and resourcing to help U.S. and allied leaders create needed change.
Highlights
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Countering the Swarm
Reports
After decades of air dominance and a near monopoly on precision strike, the United States now faces a dramatically different, more hostile world as the proliferation of cheap ...
By Stacie Pettyjohn & Molly Campbell
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Stuck in the Cul-de-Sac
Reports
For more than a decade, the United States has sought to modernize its military to deter China, but it has become stuck in a developmental cul-de-sac that has allowed China to ...
By Carlton Haelig & Philip Sheers
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Eyes in the Sky
Reports
In the Department of Defense’s priority scenarios—a “defense by denial” of China and homeland defense—dedicated airborne sensing and battle management aircraft and their crew ...
By Philip Sheers
