⏱ 6 minute read
PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEF (PDB) – A cost-per-effect blueprint for the future force. Should the U.S. buy more destroyers or develop bases, munitions, and software? The War Department confronts these dilemmas every year when building its budget.
Yet the Pentagon’s process still lacks a clear way to answer the most fundamental question: Which force structure delivers the greatest strategic effect for every dollar spent?
How should the Pentagon work with industry to generate the concepts, data, and prototypes needed to answer that question?
This challenge is not the result of neglect but of how the U.S. military has traditionally measured performance. The armed services tend to compare platforms by attributes (e.g., range, payload, speed, stealth).
These comparisons matter tactically, but they rarely capture whether a capability meaningfully contributes to campaign-level outcomes or national objectives. Not because defense planners are incapable, but because campaign-level interdependencies are too complex to evaluate without robust modeling.
The result is a force design process optimized for tactical performance rather than strategic return on investment.
As strategic readiness debates shift the focus from unit-level metrics towards long-term strategic objectives, cost-per-effect applies the same logic to force design. In theory, cost-per-effect should provide a unified way to link dollars and outcomes.
However, the War Department does not have an analytical framework capable of evaluating force structures at scale.
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here’s a roundup of today’s other top defense news from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.
THE PDB – Not the President’s Daily Briefing, but almost as good – PAUL’S DEFENSE BRIEF:
HOMELAND SECURITY
Governors, the Guard, and domestic readiness. Last year, the Supreme Court blocked an attempted National Guard deployment into the Chicago area — but months earlier, far from the headlines, a federal memo was already reshaping what Guard “readiness” means at home.
DEFENSE POLITICS
Pentagon could further accelerate its technology purchasing if services’ emerging-tech budget requests flowed through the Office of the Defense Undersecretary for Research, says GAO.
The Army is moving to collect penalties from Northrop Grumman Corp. and Global Military Products Inc. over late deliveries of artillery ammunition to Ukraine, an example of the Pentagon’s effort to make defense contractors more accountable.
US POWER OVERSEAS
Hawaii-based 25th Infantry Division heads to the Philippines next month for Army Pacific’s annual Operation Pathways training engagements and combat “rehearsals” with that nation’s armed forces.
The newly promoted lieutenant general will take command of the 5th Air Force in Tokyo, a role until recently held by the head of U.S. Forces Japan but now split as the command expands into a broader mission.
GREENLAND CRISIS
Brief history of the U.S. military’s presence in Greenland. American forces have long been based in Greenland, a self-autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, strategically located between North America and Europe.
NARCO THREAT
The U.S. military conducted a strike against another drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two narcos.
The Coast Guard seized more than 200,000 pounds of cocaine in the Eastern Pacific Ocean since launching Operation Pacific Viper last year.
MIDDLE EAST THREATS
Three Air National Guard pilots were awarded the top flying combat honor for their role in aerial defense against Iranian drones and missiles heading for Israel in April 2024.
Pentagon official rejects plea deal in USS Cole terror bombing case. Decision clears way for first death-penalty trial at Guantánamo Bay to start this summer, more than 25 years after the attack.
CHINA THREAT
U.S. Accuses China of Secret Nuclear Weapons Tests. The U.S. continues its push for a new arms control treaty that would include Beijing and Russia. “U.S. government is aware that China has conducted nuclear explosive tests, including preparing for tests with designated yields in the hundreds of tons,” Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security.
China keeps Cuba and Uruguay in the fold, puts Panama out in the cold. Beijing promises more aid to struggling Havana and cooperation with Montevideo as Washington looks to extend its reach in Latin America.
RUSSIA THREAT/UKRAINE WAR
U.S. and Russia to reestablish high-level military dialogue for the first time in more than four years, in another sign of warming relations between the two countries since President Trump returned to office and sought to end the war in Ukraine.
Kremlin said it regretted the expiration of the last remaining nuclear arms pact between Russia and the U.S., while President Trump declared he was against keeping its limits and wants a better deal.
NATO to launch Arctic surveillance mission modeled after operations countering Russia in the Baltic Sea.
Ukraine and Russia conducted their first prisoner exchange in months, each releasing 157 captured soldiers, amid U.S.-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi aimed at ending the war.
Russia’s domestic drone push is a mixed bag for its war on the West. Russia’s drone manufacturers recently got a present: the government is incentivizing Russian companies to buy their technologies.
INTERNATIONAL SECURITY
Swedish aerospace manufacturer Saab has proposed that a hypothetical Gripen production line in Canada would be large enough to also serve export customers besides making planes for the Canadian Air Force.
ST Engineering exhibited an array of new tech at Singapore Airshow 2026, including a family of assault rifles and loitering munitions nearing full development.
“No strangers to drones”: Singapore’s military is implementing new doctrines to counter swarms of low-cost drones and boosting its drone capabilities by relying largely on Israeli-made systems as the baseline of its fleet.
US MILITARY
Navy’s newest, and second, nuclear-powered Ford-class supercarrier USS John F. Kennedy aces sea trials.
The Navy is moving to prototype deepwater networking technologies that can connect subsea sensors, underwater drones, submarines, and other platforms to fully realize its Distributed Maritime Operations warfighting concept.
WATCH: Marines conduct night ship-to-shore movement with Amphibious Combat Vehicles during Quarterly Underway Amphibious Readiness Training off the coast of California.
Proper greetings, professionalism hammered home in Air Force memo. Senior leaders laying down the law on standards as service aims to reinforce professionalism.
Army adjusting how it awards reenlistment bonuses, refining how incentive pay is awarded to keep high-performing soldiers in hard-to-fill roles.
END of PDB
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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It appears that our navy is seriously considering building big battleships again. They are nothing but large targets. What we need is a large number of small, but fast, ships with the capability of shooting off heavy guided munitions ( such as the Tomahawk missile, etc. ).
Many, but smaller, ships are not such a tempting target. And they, together, are harder for an enemy to target. And they can hold, in total, as many, or more, munitions than can a battleship.
One, or several, of the smaller ships put out of operation means that there are still more ships that are still able stay in action. ‘Do in’ one battleship and the ‘game is over’ for us.