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Army Needs To Speed Up Efforts To Close Critical Capability Gaps

Army Needs To Speed Up Efforts To Close Critical Capability Gaps (From The National Interest)

Dan Goure

April 24, 2017

Over the past year the U.S. Army has been conducting a Strategic Portfolio Analysis Review (SPAR) of its 780 weapons and equipment programs. Championed by Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley, the key requirement of the SPAR is to identify modernization priorities that must be pursued in order to maintain and eventually regain overmatch to credibly deter and defeat near-peer adversaries. Based on the SPAR’s identification of critical capability gaps, the Army’s leadership will decide which programs require immediate attention and resources and which programs can be slowed down or de-scoped to extract resources to be placed against higher priority needs. It is apparent that the first Trump defense budget will not provide the Army with significant additional funds to modernize a rapidly aging force.  Hence, it must rebalance its modernization portfolio to ensure that high priority programs receive the necessary resources and support. I have written a commentary for The National Interest here.

 

Goure

Daniel Goure

Dr. Daniel Goure is a Vice President with the Lexington Institute, a nonprofit public-policy research organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. He is involved in a wide range of issues as part of the institute’s national security program.

Dr. Goure has held senior positions in both the private sector and the U.S. Government. Most recently, he was a member of the 2001 Department of Defense Transition Team. Dr. Goure spent two years in the U.S. Government as the director of the Office of Strategic Competitiveness in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He also served as a senior analyst on national security and defense issues with the Center for Naval Analyses, Science Applications International Corporation, SRS Technologies, R&D Associates and System Planning Corporation.

 

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