
Wes Rumbaugh is a fellow in the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. His work focuses on missile defense, conventional long-range strike, and defense budgets and organizations. He has published on the composition of the Missile Defense Agency budget, homeland ballistic missile defense, new operational concepts for missile defense systems, the role of elevated sensors in missile strike and defense, and trends in hypersonic strike. Previously, he was director of advocacy and a Van Cleave fellow at the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance. He holds a BS in political science from Missouri State University.
Areas of Expertise
In the News
Space Perspective's balloon-like spacecraft is floating toward a 2024 commercial launch. See new photos of the high-altitude luxury vehicle — including its fancy space toilet.
Wes Rumbaugh in Business Insider — October 24, 2023
Ukraine Launches U.S. 'Small Diameter' Bomb With Longer Range Than HIMARS
Wes Rumbaugh in Newsweek — March 28, 2023
Lawmakers chart ‘middle course’ on space-based missile warning funding
Wes Rumbaugh in Defense News — January 13, 2023
US planning new defense against hypersonic missiles
Wes Rumbaugh in NewsNation — July 5, 2022
All Wes Rumbaugh Content
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Homeland Cruise Missile Defense
Event — July 14, 2022
North America Is a Region, Too
Report by Tom Karako Ian Williams Wes Rumbaugh Ken Harmon and Matthew Strohmeyer — July 14, 2022
Seeking Alignment: Missile Defense and Defeat in the 2022 Budget
Brief by Wes Rumbaugh and Tom Karako — December 10, 2021
Extending the Horizon: Elevated Sensors for Targeting and Missile Defense
Brief by Wes Rumbaugh and Tom Karako — September 27, 2021
The Air and Missile War in Nagorno-Karabakh: Lessons for the Future of Strike and Defense
Critical Questions by Shaan Shaikh and Wes Rumbaugh — December 8, 2020
Inflection Point: Missile Defense and Defeat in the 2021 Budget
Brief by Tom Karako and Wes Rumbaugh — March 22, 2020
A New Generation of Homeland Missile Defense Interceptors
Critical Questions by Wes Rumbaugh — November 12, 2019
Masterpiece Theater: Missed Opportunities for Missile Defense in the 2020 Budget
Brief by Tom Karako and Wes Rumbaugh — March 29, 2019
Trump’s 2019 Missile Defense Budget: Choosing Capacity over Capability
Brief by Tom Karako and Wes Rumbaugh — February 28, 2018
Distributed Defense
Report by Tom Karako and Wes Rumbaugh — January 25, 2018