Articles by: Bradley Peniston

From World War ally to Cold War foe, through the breakup of the USSR and the war with Georgia, Russia’s relationship with the U.S. has been a complicated affair.

In our two-part …

Like first carriers, Littoral Combat Ship enters age of experimentation

Weapons programs take years to develop, build and field, and years more to perfect. Service officials repeatedly promise a system that will …

Unmanned systems could be casualties of budget pressures

It’s amazing how quickly attitudes can turn in Washington. A decade ago, words like “unmanned” weren’t even voiced in defense policy debates. But now, …

TO DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT GATES for including in his Efficiency Initiatives Decisions memo some savings that aren’t real. Among the 102 general officer and flag officer positions listed for elimination, some incumbents …

Early in the new Obama administration, efforts began to form a new relationship with Russia. The aim was to correct what Vice President Joe Biden described as a “dangerous drift” in U.S.-Russia …

12 key questions about the potential outcomes of U.N. Resolution 1973

A hesitant president, a skeptical SecDef and a cautious Air Force chief of staff made a curious trio of warmongers in …

TO GENS. PETER CHIARELLI AND JOSEPH DUNFORD for leading the push to ensure that troops who suffer concussions are eligible for Purple Heart recognition. The Army vice chief of staff and Marine …

The Pentagon’s top 25 most expensive weapons programs

1. F-35 fighter aircraft

2. Ballistic Missile Defense System

3. Virginia-class submarine

4. Arleigh Burke-class destroyer

5. C-17A transport aircraft

6. F-22 fighter aircraft …

TO DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT GATES for a fiscal 2012 budget request that falls woefully short of the serious cuts that are essential and unavoidable.

Despite his long insistence that he would rein …

The strategic risks of U.S. debt and how to avoid them

U.S. federal government finances are on an unsustainable path — that is the unmistakable message from the Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction commission …