Wednesday, January 07, 2009

New Military Reports

New reports are available from the Defense Science Board. Challenges to Military Operations in Support of U.S. Interests [2007 Summer Study] is available as an executive summary (Vol. I) or as the main report (Vol. II). The introduction paints a grim picture: "The United States could well confront the possibility of going to war abroad in the face of significant devastation in the homeland--dividing forces between homeland catastrophe relief operations and combat abroad--even facing the possibility that deploy and supply of U.S. military forces could be delayed and disrupted." The study investigated and made recommendations for seven areas for which the United States might need more preparation:

  • Future of war
  • Unconventional weapons and technology proliferation
  • Nuclear proliferation-a special case
  • Unconventional operational concepts and the homeland
  • What we know and don't know about adversary capabilities: intelligence
  • Fighting through asymmetric counterforce
  • Strategic communication--another instrument of U.S. power


A December 2008 report also addressed nuclear weapons:Permanent Task Force on Nuclear Weapons Surety Report: Nuclear Weapons Inspections for the Strategic Nuclear Forces. An April 2008 related report dealt with unauthorized movement of nuclear weapons.