Browsing Category
Rumors of War
New plans detail State Department layoffs and changes
The State Department is moving forward with a plan to eliminate or consolidate more than 300 of its offices and bureaus, according to documents provided to lawmakers and employees on Thursday, leading to a reduction of more than 3,400…
Pentagon aims to save money by reducing consulting contracts
A new edict orders the Defense Department to reduce the number of IT consulting and management services contracts, part of a push to take on more of that work in-house.In a memo sent Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed DOD…
The US Army is too light to win
How can we have forgotten the terrible lessons of the early 2000s, when losses in Iraq and Afghanistan prompted a scramble to deploy up-armored HMMWVs and Mine Resistant Armor Protected Vehicles? Today’s Army, far lighter than the one that…
“Excellent” Calls and “Very Good” Talks but Little Clear Progress
<!-- category --> May 29, 2025 Welcome to The Adversarial. Every other week, we’ll provide you with expert analysis on America’s greatest challengers: China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and jihadists. Read more below. ***…
The D Brief: Cuts to DOT&E; Uncrewed F-35?; Qatari jet’s a mess; Border gets barracks funding;…
Hegseth halves Pentagon testing office. On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth signed a memo directing cuts to the office of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation. The DOT&E workforce will shrink from 94 employees to 30…
Hegseth halves staff of Pentagon’s testing-oversight office
The Pentagon office that oversees weapons testing will shrink by nearly half, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered on Wednesday, which will leave individual service branches to conduct testing with a smaller Defense Department…
Women in the Ranks, but Not in the Clear
When the Pentagon opened combat roles to women in 2015, many assumed the debate on full sex integration in the U.S. military was over. But Defense Secretary Peter Hegseth’s March 12 order to review military fitness, body composition, and…
Lockheed pitches pilot-optional F-35
Lockheed Martin plans to develop a version of the F-35 that can fly without a pilot, according to the company’s CEO—one of many upgrades the company is pitching for the program after it lost the Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance…
What’s missing from Trump’s nuclear diplomacy
Something is missing from President Trump’s nuclear diplomacy with Iran: a credible military threat. Without it, these talks, which will soon enter their sixth round, have little chance of achieving their stated goal of ensuring Iran can…
Lessons Learned from Pakistan’s Use of Chinese-Provided Weapons
In the latest conflict between Pakistan and India, Pakistan used weapons systems imported from China, with varying degrees of success. Pakistan is a crucial customer for Chinese weapons exports, with 63 percent of China’s arms exports going…
Play Hard. Get Dirty. Use Good Saop.