Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments: The Future of National Security - Innovative research on defense strategy, budgets, and the security environment
Washington, DC
Joined May 2013
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For background on this topic, read CSBA's 2015 report "Trends in Air-to-Air Combat: Implications for Future Air Superiority," which argues that "for the first time, the arial combat lethality of large combat aircraft may be competitive or even superior to traditional fighter aircraft..."
csbaonline.org/resource/tren…
USAF Confirms Bombers Could Have A Major Air-To-Air Combat Role
Bombers are now being viewed as another potential air-to-air asset on top of growing the fighter fleet and establishing a CCA force.
twz.com/air/usaf-confirms-bo…
CSBA retweeted
This @CSBAdc report—written more than a decade ago and way ahead of its time—is critical background reading here csbaonline.org/resource/tren…
USAF Confirms Bombers Could Have A Major Air-To-Air Combat Role
Bombers are now being viewed as another potential air-to-air asset on top of growing the fighter fleet and establishing a CCA force.
twz.com/air/usaf-confirms-bo…
Upcoming Report: Stay tuned for CSBA's 2025/2026 Navy Fellow @AaronCMarchant1's report, "Phantom Boats and Ghost Ships: A New Framework for Assessing Unmanned Surface Vessels," which argues for re-categorizing USVs to better understand how they should fit into naval force architecture. Coming soon!
CSBA retweeted
Current geographic frameworks for N and NE Europe do not take full advantage of the strengths that Sweden and Finland bring to NATO. We argue that NATO instead should treat what we call the "Northeast Quadrant" as one comprehensive and holistic area of operations.
"Sweden and Finland alliance membership, increased NATO focus on deterrence and defense, and augmented NATO spending all create a more challenging security environment for Russia." -Read more in CSBA's latest by @KakiDahlstrand, @CaseyNicastro, and Jan van Tol
csbaonline.org/resource/fina…
"Sweden and Finland alliance membership, increased NATO focus on deterrence and defense, and augmented NATO spending all create a more challenging security environment for Russia." -Read more in CSBA's latest by @KakiDahlstrand, @CaseyNicastro, and Jan van Tol
csbaonline.org/resource/fina…
Report Release: "Final Pieces of the Puzzle: Increasing Deterrence and Defense in NATO's Northeast Quadrant" by @KakiDahlstrand, @CaseyNicastro, and Jan van Tol proposes a new geographic concept for NATO following Sweden and Finland's accession to the alliance: treating Europe's High North and greater Baltic Sea region as one comprehensive strategic "Northeast Quadrant" area of operations.
Read more about the advantages of this approach here: csbaonline.org/resource/fina…
Upcoming Report: In "Final Pieces of the Puzzle: Sweden, Finland, and NATO's Northeast Quadrant," CSBA Experts @KakiDahlstrand, Jan van Tol, and @CaseyNicastro discuss how Sweden and Finland's membership in NATO could change the alliance's defense calculations.
CSBA retweeted
This @CSBAdc report by @KakiDahlstrand provides some excellent background on great power competition in space and a thoughtful argument for the types of counterspace weapons the U.S. should pursue (and why): csbaonline.org/resource/secu…
In "Breaking the Firepower versus Protection Paradox," CSBA Experts @MalandrinoGreg and Dao Tran consider how the U.S. Air Force can protect its high-value airborne assets without sacrificing offensive resources by utilizing uncrewed Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Read their entire brief here: csbaonline.org/resource/brea…
CSBA Senior Fellow @MalandrinoGreg describes how using collaborative combat aircraft (CCAs) for defensive tactics could offer a strategic advantage over China's Air Force in his latest for @BreakingDefense.
The increasing capabilities and size of the Chinese Air Force are raising the stakes in the Pacific. Balancing firepower and protection is critical for success in air-to-air combat. The future of the CCA program is an opportunity not just to tip the scales, but to change the game.@CSBAdc
My latest in @BreakingDefense
breakingdefense.com/2026/09/…
Back in 2008, CSBA published a report discussing how a carrier-based unmanned air combat system may help transform carrier aviation -now that the Navy is revisiting the strategic benefits of UCAVs, it is also worth taking another look at "Range, Persistence, Stealth, and Networking: The Case for a Carrier-Based Unmanned Combat Air System." Read the report here: csbaonline.org/resource/rang…
The U.S. Navy’s newest stated requirements for its Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) effort point toward a drone that sounds very much like an advanced uncrewed combat air vehicle (UCAV), rather than a smaller and less capable autonomous ‘loyal wingman’ intended to economically augment crewed fighters. Overall, the new requirements serve as a tacit admission that the Navy is still looking for the kind of drone that it previously explored with extreme promise in the X-47B and Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) program. The UCLASS requirements were abruptly shelved and replaced with an uncrewed carrier-based tanker effort, which resulted in the MQ-25 Stingray. This act was seen by some as one of the most controversial and puzzling procurement decisions in modern naval aviation history.
Read our full story here: twz.com/sea/navys-sounds-lik…
CSBA Expert @MichaelHunzeker writes about Taiwan's military culture in this latest for @WarOnTheRocks
Is Taiwanese Society Prepared for a China Contingency? (Members Only) warontherocks.com/is-taiwane…
China's new hypersonic missile has raised concerns over potential theater conflict, U.S. air operations, and the risks of escalation. CSBA experts @evanbmontgomery and @ToshiYoshihara considered this topic in 2023 with their monograph "Speeding Toward Instability? Hypersonic Weapons and the Risks of Nuclear Use." Read their conclusions here: csbaonline.org/resource/spee…
"America's Cold War experience demonstrates that the DoD can innovate at speed and scale if talented innovators are given tailored authority, resources, and tenure and are protected from normal bureaucratic processes. Today's leaders must embrace this lesson if critical defense innovation efforts are to succeed." - CSBA expert Thane Clare in his latest report "Delegate to Innovate."
Read more here: csbaonline.org/resource/dele…
CSBA Counselor Eric Edelman speats with @vagomuradian on the @defaeroreport Air Power Podcast to discuss Nuclear Command, Control, and Communication --Listen the rest here: defaeroreport.com/2026/08/13…
CSBA retweeted
Nuclear submarines and power plants reshaped the twentieth century. Both trace back to one stubborn Navy captain who could not take no for an answer. warontherocks.com/2026/08/hy…
In his article for @WarOnTheRocks, CSBA Senior Fellow Thane Clare highlights how Hyman Rickover revolutionized naval warfare. Read more about Rickover and empowered innovation in Clare's latest CSBA report here: csbaonline.org/resource/dele…
Nuclear submarines and power plants reshaped the twentieth century. Both trace back to one stubborn Navy captain who could not take no for an answer. warontherocks.com/hyman-rick…
CSBA President and CEO Thomas G. Mahnken speaks with @vagomuradian on the @defaeroreport Strategy Series podcast to discuss his research on promoting Indo-Pacific experience within the U.S. military to better prepare forces for potential regional conflict. Listen here: defaeroreport.com/2026/08/11…
Report Release: "Delegate to Innovate: Why Acquisition Reform Alone Can't Fix Military Innovation (And How to Succeed Anyway" by Thane Clare argues that defense innovation succeeds when leaders are delegated principal authority to plan, prioritize, and act without the friction of bureaucracy. Read more here: csbaonline.org/resource/dele…
The Pentagon's recently announced nuclear strategy review will likely address the increasing risk of China's evolving nuclear arsenal and the need to expand US deterrence options. CSBA experts @evanbmontgomery and @ToshiYoshihara unpack the threat of China's "significant quantitative and qualitative nuclear buildup" in @TWQgw. Read ""The Real Challenge of China's Nuclear Modernization" (tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.…) and ""Conquering Taiwan by Other Means: China's Expanding Coercive Options" (tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.…)
Pentagon wants ‘expanding options’ for nuclear weapons, officials say breakingdefense.com/2026/08/…
