Defense Budget and Acquisition

While today’s military is near its smallest size since the end of World War II by almost all measures, personnel costs are at historically high levels. This CSIS report examines trends in military personnel costs and key drivers of growth over the past several decades.

An integrated battle network has been a major focus area for the DoD and Congress for years. This brief examines the importance of battle networks to modern military operations and presents a framework of five functional elements that make up a battle network.

CSIS’s Mark Cancian analyzes the U.S. military forces in FY 2021, their composition, new initiatives, long-term trends, and challenges, as the United States’ military forces likely entered their last year of growth.

Remotely crewed systems can help the military balance the trade-offs that resource constraints require among force structure, investment, and readiness. This report compares operating costs between remotely piloted aircraft and crewed aircraft to inform future trade-offs.

The Biden administration and Congress must reshape the FY2022 defense budget to implement an effective national security strategy, writes CSIS’s Burke Chair in Strategy.