May 1, 2009

DTP-062: Directed Energy Weapons – Are We There Yet?

The purpose of this paper is to examine the barriers to deployment of directed energy weapons and suggest a strategy for an initial deployment that addresses these issues. This strategy will focus on current high-priority threats against which DEW would provide the best alternative for the military.

April 1, 2009

Cyberpower and National Security

Cyberpower and National Security frames the key issues concerned and identifies the important questions involved in building the human capacity to address cyber issues, balancing civil liberties with national security considerations, and developing the international partnerships needed to address cyber challenges. With more than two dozen contributors, Cyberpower and National Security covers it all.

April 1, 2009

DTP-061: Social Software and National Security: An Initial ‘Net Assessment’ by Mark Drapeau and Linton Wells II

This research paper as an initial net assessment of how social software interacts with government and security in the broadest sense.1 The analysis looks at both sides of what once might have been called a “blue-red” balance to investigate how social software is being used (or could be used) by not only the United States and its allies, but also by adversaries and other counterparties.

March 1, 2009

A 21st-century Concept of Air and Military Operations

The evolution of 21st-century air operations is unfolding under the impact of a new generation of fighter aircraft and a significant shift in the role of air operations in support of ground and maritime forces. So-called fifth-generation aircraft often are mistakenly viewed as simply the next iteration of airframes: fast, stealthy replacements of obsolescent legacy platforms. In fact, the capabilities of fifth-generation aircraft, and their integration into a network-centric joint force, will change the roles of manned fighter aircraft in air, ground, and maritime operations. These changes are so far-reaching that the Services face the challenge of crafting a new concept of 21st-century air operations, indeed, of all combat operations.

March 1, 2009

DTP-059: Perspectives from Former Executives of the DOD Corporate Research Laboratories

It is the purpose of this paper to document the thoughts and opinions of individuals who have led research activities at each of the following CRLs (Army, Navy, and Air Force corporate research laboratories): the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in Adelphi, MD; the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington, DC; and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in Dayton, Ohio respectively. These individuals are: John Lyons (ARL), Timothy Coffey (NRL), and Vincent Russo (AFRL).

March 1, 2009

DTP-060: Operation Anaconda: Lessons for Joint Operations

This study is not an official history of Anaconda but an analysis of lessons that can be learned from that battle and applied to future joint operations. This study’s intent is not to criticize, but instead to offer observations for joint operations, multinational operations, and expeditionary warfare in austere settings.

Feb. 1, 2009

Alliance Reborn: An Atlantic Compact for the 21st Century

Alliance Reborn: An Atlantic Compact for the 21st Century is a major policy report with fresh, independent ideas and analysis on the future roles and missions of the NATO Alliance. It calls for a reinvigorated Atlantic partnership to tackle global challenges and a new structure for NATO that rebalances its “home and away missions,” forges a fuller partnership with the European Union and other institutions, reorients Alliance military capabilities, reforms command arrangements, and changes decision-making, spending, and management practices. It also proposes urgent shifts in NATO strategy in Afghanistan and relations with Russia In fall 2008, four U.S. think tanks – the Atlantic Council of the United States; the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS); the Center for Technology and National Security Policy (CTNSP) at the National Defense University (NDU); and the Center for Transatlantic Relations (CTR) at the Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) – launched the Washington NATO Project to spark debate before and after NATO’s 60th anniversary summit in April, 2009. The Washington NATO Project seeks to generate new ideas and thinking about the transatlantic community’s role in a changing global security environment.

Feb. 1, 2009

DTP-058: Strengthening Technical Peer Review at the Army S&T Laboratories

The paper recommends that the Army require peer review of the technical quality of its laboratories and proposes a set of norms that must be met. The principal recommendation is that reviews be performed by independent experts who visit the laboratory for two or more days, looking at the technical projects and the strength of the technical staff, equipment, and facilities.

Jan. 1, 2009

From Sputnik to Minerva: Education and American National Security

This paper examines how external challenges have prompted national investments in education to enhance American national security. Rather than focusing primarily on traditional professional military education, this analysis examines how education has been used as a tool of American power. Four major moments of transformation in the international system are surveyed to illustrate a link between strategic educational capacity, defined as the application of attained knowledge and skills, and national power. The study then assesses how education is used as a power asset in the contemporary security environment. Today, an important educational capacity is emerging in the new Minerva program in the Department of Defense and other transformational educational concepts with security applications. Education is gaining an increasing interest among American decisionmakers as a strategic component of American power and an essential asset for successful military operations in the new global security environment.

Jan. 1, 2009

DTP-057: Army Science and Technology Investment In Interoperability

This paper discusses the elements of assessing ‘bang for bucks’ with regard to S&T investment in interoperability. It intends to point to where interoperability investment offers the greatest return and to open our thinking to the possibility that universal interoperability of all systems is not a desirable or attainable goal, especially when allocating investments and accepting reasonable risk.