Defense Budget and Acquisition

This CSIS ASP report compares, contrasts, and critiques three congressionally mandated studies of the Air Force’s future force structure. This analysis only considers the unclassified material released to provide an independent assessment of the current state of the Air Force.

Annually, CSIS senior adviser Mark Cancian publishes a series of papers on U.S. military forces—their composition, new initiatives, long-term trends, and challenges.

The Marine Corps is developing capabilities for great power conflict after decades of counterinsurgency. In the third white paper in a series on U.S. forces, CSIS's Mark Cancian analyzes the Marine Corps’ force structure, strategic reorientation, and long-term challenges.

The U.S. Navy is gearing up for great power conflict even as it struggles to meet day-to-day operational demands. In the second white paper in his series on the U.S. forces, CSIS's Mark Cancian analyzes the Navy’s force structure, proposed changes, and long-term challenges.

CSIS's Mark Cancian analyzes the structure of military forces, proposed changes, and long-term challenges in his series on U.S. forces in the FY 2020 budget. This first white paper describes the strategic and budgetary context.

In August, the Defense Department kicked off a broad zero-based review of all defense-wide functions and activities. CSIS’s Seamus Daniels assesses the defense-wide organizations that are subject to the review as well as previous reforms to the “Fourth Estate.”

Adaptable systems deliver a wide variety of capabilities and grow capability over time to meet DOD’s future needs. Unfortunately, they are hindered by acquisition barriers, but these barriers can be offset by enablers that could ease use of the systems.