“In general, a more complex force prevails over a less complex force.“ Arthur Cerbrowski, Director, Office of Force Transformation, Department of Defense The first time I read this, I didn’t like it, perhaps because of the old Army adage KISS. Then I thought that Admiral Cerbrowski probably had a different definition of complex in mind. […]
July 2005
The French have been inspired by the bombings in London and Egypt to put in place a series of new anti-terrorist measures. Prime Minister de Villepan announced yesterday that the government will ask the National Assembly in August for a new law to expand video surveillance and to require ISPs and telcos to preserve email […]
DODs 2005 report on Chinas military power is actually pretty level-headed. I was expecting something more along the lines of the old Soviet Military Reviews, which routinely attributed astounding technical advances to the Soviets. The noise level in Washington over the yuan and CNOOC also led me to expect something more vociferous. One development regarding […]
It keeps getting harder and more expensive to build modern weapons. The combination of cost and complexity drives companies from the market. The most noticeable effect has been on the emerging economies that tried to become arms producers. Brazil, India, Taiwan, Korea, Israel, Pakistan and South Africa all began major arms programs in the 1970s […]
Not many people would try to drive an 24 year old American car coast to coast on Interstate 80 this summer, but thats a fair description of the launch of the Shuttle Discovery, built in 1981 and flown into space many times. Discovery is a well maintained antique that wont be retired until 2010. NASAs […]
