Gregory Sanders

Deputy Director and Fellow, Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group
Gregory Sanders

Gregory Sanders is deputy director and fellow with the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group at CSIS, where he manages a research team that analyzes data on U.S. government contract spending and other budget and acquisition issues. He employs data visualization and other ways to use complex data collections to create succinct and innovative tables, charts, and maps. His recent research focuses on contract spending by major government departments, contingency contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and European and Asian defense budgets. This work requires management of data from a variety of databases, most notably the Federal Procurement Database System, and extensive cross-referencing of multiple budget data sources. In support of these goals, he employs SQL Server, as well as the statistical programming language R. Sanders holds an M.A. in international studies from the University of Denver and a B.A. in government and politics, as well as a B.S. in computer science, from the University of Maryland.

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Executive Education

Mapping the U.S. DOD Acquisition Ecosystem

Dive deep into the defense acquisition process and the defense industrial base in this new one-day course.

Course Date: September 19, 2023
Registration Closes: September 5, 2023

Transatlantic Defense during Wartime

Transatlantic defense is at a key juncture as Russia's war in Ukraine has brought greater unity but also thrown into relief the challenges of producing military capability. The European Union and NATO have an opportunity to build on their strengths to address this crisis.

Report by Cynthia Cook Max Bergmann Mark F. Cancian Gregory Sanders Sissy Martinez Otto Svendsen and Nicholas Velazquez — September 5, 2023

Rising Demand and Proliferating Supply of Military UAS

There has been a significant rise in the proliferation of military uninhabited aerial systems. This report reveals drivers and implications by examining the Nagorno-Karabakh war, the Russian war in Ukraine, and contracting and international trade data.

Report by Gregory Sanders Rose Butchart Astrid Price Dan Steinberg and Alexander Holderness — May 24, 2023

Managing Risk and Technology Insertion in Crewed Tactical Jet Engines

As China makes seismic investments in its military jet engine industry, Washington will have to develop strategies to ensure the United States' enduring advantage and to continue to deliver world-leading air combat capability.

Brief by Alexander Holderness Gregory Sanders and Nicholas Velazquez — April 18, 2023

Powering Proliferation: The Global Engine Market and China’s Indigenization

The military turbofan engine market proliferates technology nations like China need to build modern jet engines to compete with the United States. This brief explores China’s push to modernize its capabilities and broader dynamics in the global military engine market.

Brief by Alexander Holderness Nicholas Velazquez Jasmine Phillips Gregory Sanders and Cynthia Cook — March 21, 2023

Executive Summary: 2021 CSIS-DAPA Conference

The 2021 CSIS-DAPA conference explored how the United States and the Republic of Korea could strengthen their alliance via a third generation of cooperation. Key topics were information sharing, domestic industry promotion, new technology, and the larger strategic context.

Report by Gregory Sanders — December 5, 2022

Inflating the Risk? Contracting in the Face of Inflation

What will heightened inflation mean for the defense-industrial base? CSIS experts analyze how the Department of Defense responded to the last major bout of inflation and the relative exposure of different categories of vendors with respect to firm-fixed price contracts.

Critical Questions by Gregory Sanders and Alexander Holderness — December 1, 2022

Keeping the U.S. Military Engine Edge: Budget and Contract Trends

The United States leads the world in military aircraft engine development. However, the Department of Defense must make significant decisions moving forward to retain this advantage in an era of renewed competition.

Brief by Gregory Sanders and Nicholas Velazquez — October 31, 2022

Pathways to Implementing Comprehensive and Collaborative JADC2

This CSIS brief identifies and examines strategic level challenges in pursuing enhanced command and control infrastructure and makes recommendations to help the U.S. military as it operates as a joint force and deploys with allies and partners.

Report by Cynthia Cook Rose Butchart Gregory Sanders and Alexander Holderness — September 27, 2022