Sharing security in an era of international cooperation: unmanned aerial vehicles and the United States’ Air Force

The United States’ Air Force (USAF) has developed and used unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology to monitor and assassinate dangerous terrorists in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen. Currently, there are few countries that possess armed UAV and since the US created much of this technology, the USAF is usually part of the training that automatically accompanies the purchase of its UAVs. The research question this article attempts to answer is, “What is the extent of the United States’ Air Force assistance in the training and proliferation of UAV technology to foreign militaries?”     

Perspectives for the development of key industrial capabilities for Canada’s defence sector

With the Canada First Defence Strategy, Canada has put forth a major opportunity to reconcile national security imperatives and industrial policy. The Jenkins Report (2013) set out to examine ways to use that procurement effort to foster key industrial capabilities (KICs) that would put the Canadian defence industry at an advantage both nationally and internationally. The Canadian defence industry should then develop highly focused capabilities with a view to moving up global value chains. As such, KICs that hold the best potential should be selected. They should be sustained through a range of strategies that are however contingent on the elimination of policy gaps. This leads to a balancing act between the need to control intellectual property assets versus accessing them in a world where national boundaries are eroded. Canada’s industry should target opportunities outside North America while continuing to focus on better integration with the North American industry.     

Kinetic responses to global terrorism: Lessons from Africa

This essay recalls the immediate and longer-term responses of the US and its allies to the events of 9/11. It contends that the die for contemporary developments in transnational terrorism was cast in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 – in particular the launching of sustained ‘anti-terrorist’ military combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, and more covert ‘kinetic’ operations elsewhere in the Middle East and Africa. The essay seeks specifically to expose the counter-productivity of using military operations as the primary antidote to transnational terrorism. Focusing on the African ‘laboratory’ and the spread of transnational terrorism and Islamic militancy, particularly in West and East Africa, the essay concludes that radical Islamists have mastered the ‘battle of the narrative’ and that the Western penchant for dispensing a kinetic brand of medication is feeding rather than fighting the virus of global terrorism.     

What Sticks? The Evaluation of a Train-the-Trainer Course in Military Ethics and its Perceived Outcomes

Ethics training has become a common phenomenon in the training of military professionals at all levels. However, the perceived outcomes of this training remain open. In this article, we analyze the experiences of course participants who were interviewed 6–12 months after they had participated in a train-the-trainer course in military ethics developed by the Faculty of Military Sciences of the Netherlands Defence Academy. Through qualitative inductive analysis, it is shown how participants evaluate the training, how they perceive the development of their moral competence, and how they see the impact of the training on their own training practice.     

To catch an intruder: Part A—uncluttered scenario

We analyze an interdiction scenario where an interceptor attempts to catch an intruder as the intruder moves through the area of interest. A motivating example is the detection and interdiction of drug smuggling vessels in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean. We study two models in this article. The first considers a nonstrategic target that moves through the area without taking evasive action to avoid the interdictor. We determine the optimal location the interceptor should position itself to best respond when a target arrives. The second model analyzes the strategic interaction between the interceptor and intruder using a Blotto approach. The intruder chooses a route to travel on and the interceptor chooses a route to patrol. We model the interaction as a two‐player game with a bilinear payoff function. We compute the optimal strategy for both players and examine several extensions. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 64: 29–40, 2017     

美关岛基地战略前景分析

关岛是美军在西太平洋地区的重要战略支撑点,既是战略轰炸机基地,又是海军在西太主要的作战、后勤保障中心,还是海军陆战队的集结基地,军力可有效辐射西太地区。对于美军来说,关岛具有政治可持续性、地理位置优越、自身规模适宜等自身优势,同时也面临着远程打击威胁增多、军力部署集中与分散两难、盟友顾虑被抛弃等问题。美国将持续加大对关岛的军事力量建设投入,进一步加强关岛在西太的军事核心地位。     

武警无人机应用发展研究

武警部队非战争军事行动不断延伸,为满足遂行多样化任务的需要,武警无人机发展势在必行。借助军民融合优势,强化已有机型功能,拓展研发适合各警种任务特点的新机型,分析并提出武警无人机未来发展方向,以期为提升各警种联合行动效能提供思路。     

基于CNKI数据的军民融合研究进展及未来趋势

军民融合是跨军地、跨部门、跨领域的复杂系统工程,是全面建成小康社会进程中实现强军和富国兼顾的必由之路,分析我国军民融合研究演化过程以及知识基础,可为我国军民融合提供理论支撑,对我国军事建设与经济发展具有重要意义。本文通过cnki数据库,搜集有关军民融合相关文献。从关键词、作者及研究机构等方面绘制相关知识图谱,理顺当前军民融合研究脉络,了解军民融合研究现状与发展趋势。按照绘制的军民融合知识图谱和相关数据,对军民融合研究进行总结,为将来军民融合研究提供参考。     

近期美国陆军旅战斗队建设发展

美军认为,近年来中俄等大国的军事实力不断增强,成为美国的主要安全威胁,长期的反叛乱作战也使美国陆军应对正规战争的能力有所下降,必须推进面向大国竞争的转型建设以适应未来的作战环境。随着美国陆军转型建设的大幕拉开,提升大规模作战能力成为其建设发展的焦点。本文认为,旅战斗队作为美国陆军的主要合成兵种部队与实施近距离地面作战的主要梯队之一,其建设发展必将服务于美国陆军的战略目标。据此,美国陆军旅战斗队围绕“跨域、集中、持续、聚合”四个指导原则,重点采取各种举措提升其指挥机构生存力、火力集中打击力、空中威胁防护力、战术网络杀伤力四项基本能力。总结分析美国陆军旅战斗队发展建设的举措,对军队未来作战能力建设具有一定的启示作用。     

基于GRA法的军工企业财务竞争力评价

2015年,“军民融合发展战略”上升为国家战略。在政策引导下,我国军工集团将资产拆分上市,开始加快直面市场的步伐。由于曾经的管理体制、经营目标与市场经济不适应等原因,此类企业存在财务理念滞后、能力较弱的问题,需要提升财务竞争力。为解决这一问题,本文通过改良得到适于军工企业的财务竞争力评价指标体系;基于军工企业财务竞争力,利用灰色关联度分析法对军工集团实际控制的62家上市公司进行排序,识别出标杆企业中国船舶重工股份有限公司和北京四维图新科技股份有限公司。研究表明,军工企业财务竞争力普遍较弱,应当根据标杆企业财务竞争力提升的经验,构建战略联盟,应用共享服务的财务管理新模式,提升基础财务能力。