Becca Wasser
@beccawasser.bsky.social
Defense Lead, Bloomberg Economics; Adjunct Senior Fellow for Defense, CNAS. Views are my own.
The new NDS tries to hedge by designing forces for China and everything else. But that risks ending up with two different force structures -- and that comes at a high cost. Thanks to @defenseone.bsky.social for featuring my take: www.defenseone.com/policy/2026/...
Experts have questions about the new National Defense Strategy—on China, force design, and more
The document “might not be worth the paper it’s written on,” one expert said.
www.defenseone.com
February 2, 2026 at 8:05 PM
The new NDS tries to hedge by designing forces for China and everything else. But that risks ending up with two different force structures -- and that comes at a high cost. Thanks to @defenseone.bsky.social for featuring my take: www.defenseone.com/policy/2026/...
The 2026 NDS upends force planning. Homeland and Western Hemisphere first means fewer forward deployments, more reliance on surge forces. But surging depends on access from allies and a force built for China that may not fit new missions.
More on the Terminal: blinks.bloomberg.com/news/stories...
More on the Terminal: blinks.bloomberg.com/news/stories...
January 30, 2026 at 5:08 PM
The 2026 NDS upends force planning. Homeland and Western Hemisphere first means fewer forward deployments, more reliance on surge forces. But surging depends on access from allies and a force built for China that may not fit new missions.
More on the Terminal: blinks.bloomberg.com/news/stories...
More on the Terminal: blinks.bloomberg.com/news/stories...
The US military buildup in the Middle East has put a wider range of Iranian targets on the table — from missile and drone sites to even IRGC and government leadership — but all options likely fall short of collapsing the government.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Trump’s Options for Strike on Iran Grow Even With Goals Unclear
The arrival of a US aircraft-carrier strike group in the Middle East has given President Donald Trump new, more forceful options to carry out his threats to attack Iran, but the choices carry serious ...
www.bloomberg.com
January 29, 2026 at 10:07 PM
The US military buildup in the Middle East has put a wider range of Iranian targets on the table — from missile and drone sites to even IRGC and government leadership — but all options likely fall short of collapsing the government.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
The US defense industrial base can’t — and shouldn’t — compete with China one-for-one. My thoughts on what it will take to rebuild the DIB [spoiler: making hard choices], what we can learn from previous periods of defense innovation, and the long road ahead.
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
America’s Defense Industry Is in Trouble, With No Plan to Fix It
China and Russia are racing ahead while the US keeps running in place.
www.bloomberg.com
January 20, 2026 at 6:11 PM
The US defense industrial base can’t — and shouldn’t — compete with China one-for-one. My thoughts on what it will take to rebuild the DIB [spoiler: making hard choices], what we can learn from previous periods of defense innovation, and the long road ahead.
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
Strikes on Iran remain on the table, even if Trump holds off for now. A potential attack could come from US or Europe-based aircraft, or from destroyers already in the region. A CSG is not a prerequisite. My take on what strikes and possible targets could look like: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Trump Signals He’ll Hold Off Another Attack on Iran for Now
President Donald Trump indicated that he might hold off on attacking Iran for now after saying he was reassured by sources “on the other side” that the government in Tehran would stop killing people i...
www.bloomberg.com
January 15, 2026 at 2:36 AM
Strikes on Iran remain on the table, even if Trump holds off for now. A potential attack could come from US or Europe-based aircraft, or from destroyers already in the region. A CSG is not a prerequisite. My take on what strikes and possible targets could look like: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Very excited for my Bloomberg defense partner-in-crime @mgerrydoyle.bsky.social's must-read new newsletter. Who knows, there might even be a guest appearance from yours truly. Sign up!
Our new Defense Monitor newsletter will deliver weekly intelligence on the companies, geopolitics and finances of the future battlefield.
Don’t miss the first edition. Subscribe now: bloom.bg/3NJ3cl1
Don’t miss the first edition. Subscribe now: bloom.bg/3NJ3cl1
January 14, 2026 at 5:01 PM
Very excited for my Bloomberg defense partner-in-crime @mgerrydoyle.bsky.social's must-read new newsletter. Who knows, there might even be a guest appearance from yours truly. Sign up!
A new $1B Pentagon investment in L3Harris goes after a critical bottleneck: solid rocket motors. They’re essential to scaling missile & drone production and replenishing munitions expended in recent operations, but the deal comes with strings attached. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
US Department of Defense to Invest $1 Billion in Missile Unit
The US Department of Defense is set to invest in L3Harris Technologies Inc.’s missile unit with a $1 billion convertible preferred security, tightening the direct links between the US government and a...
www.bloomberg.com
January 13, 2026 at 4:28 PM
A new $1B Pentagon investment in L3Harris goes after a critical bottleneck: solid rocket motors. They’re essential to scaling missile & drone production and replenishing munitions expended in recent operations, but the deal comes with strings attached. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Reposted by Becca Wasser
Agree with @beccawasser.bsky.social. Elaine McCusker’s shown the financial cost of ops in the past 5 months at $1.4B, but Elaine would also say you can’t buy back lost time. The opportunity cost is incredibly high.
The US can keep forces in the Caribbean — but at a high cost. These deployments burn readiness, limit presence elsewhere, and leave the US less prepared for future crises.
Back to shouting about readiness to anyone who will listen (and even those who won't): www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Back to shouting about readiness to anyone who will listen (and even those who won't): www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
US Force’s Presence in Caribbean Has Limits, Despite Trump Vow
President Donald Trump vowed to keep US forces in the Caribbean for the foreseeable future. Yet given the sheer size of the military buildup in Latin America, he can’t maintain that presence indefinit...
www.bloomberg.com
January 12, 2026 at 5:53 PM
Agree with @beccawasser.bsky.social. Elaine McCusker’s shown the financial cost of ops in the past 5 months at $1.4B, but Elaine would also say you can’t buy back lost time. The opportunity cost is incredibly high.
The US can keep forces in the Caribbean — but at a high cost. These deployments burn readiness, limit presence elsewhere, and leave the US less prepared for future crises.
Back to shouting about readiness to anyone who will listen (and even those who won't): www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Back to shouting about readiness to anyone who will listen (and even those who won't): www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
US Force’s Presence in Caribbean Has Limits, Despite Trump Vow
President Donald Trump vowed to keep US forces in the Caribbean for the foreseeable future. Yet given the sheer size of the military buildup in Latin America, he can’t maintain that presence indefinit...
www.bloomberg.com
January 12, 2026 at 5:16 PM
The US can keep forces in the Caribbean — but at a high cost. These deployments burn readiness, limit presence elsewhere, and leave the US less prepared for future crises.
Back to shouting about readiness to anyone who will listen (and even those who won't): www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Back to shouting about readiness to anyone who will listen (and even those who won't): www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Private defense companies self-fund R&D, betting the Pentagon will buy what they build. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Public defense firms play a different game, building to DoD requirements -- even with internal R&D.
My comments: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
My comments: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
US Defense Majors Face a $110 Billion Conundrum to Please Trump
The biggest US defense companies spent twice as much on stock buybacks and dividends than they did on capital expenditures the past five years, a mismatch that has drawn the ire of President Donald Tr...
www.bloomberg.com
January 8, 2026 at 9:42 PM
Private defense companies self-fund R&D, betting the Pentagon will buy what they build. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Public defense firms play a different game, building to DoD requirements -- even with internal R&D.
My comments: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
My comments: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
My public service announcement on the Bloomberg Terminal (and I really hope to be right!) 👇🏻
January 8, 2026 at 6:53 PM
My public service announcement on the Bloomberg Terminal (and I really hope to be right!) 👇🏻
“It is impossible for Japan to stockpile enough raw material to service all sectors — let alone the defense sector itself.” My take on the limited options for Japan’s defense industry to minimize the impact of China’s export controls. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
China Slaps Export Controls on Japan Military for Taiwan Remarks
China imposed controls on exports to Japan with any military use, intensifying a dispute between Asia’s top economies over remarks Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made last year on Taiwan.
www.bloomberg.com
January 7, 2026 at 11:34 AM
“It is impossible for Japan to stockpile enough raw material to service all sectors — let alone the defense sector itself.” My take on the limited options for Japan’s defense industry to minimize the impact of China’s export controls. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
I talked to the WSJ about the potential pitfalls of the Pentagon’s drone buying programs. One of the biggest risks: the drones will be OBE by the time they arrive. Keeping costs low, using software and commercial components to incrementally upgrade drones will be key.
www.wsj.com/politics/nat...
www.wsj.com/politics/nat...
At the Pentagon, DOGE Mission to Cut Costs Includes Buying Drones
An agency created to eliminate waste now seeks to bypass the Defense Department’s often-cumbersome acquisition system.
www.wsj.com
December 29, 2025 at 8:05 PM
I talked to the WSJ about the potential pitfalls of the Pentagon’s drone buying programs. One of the biggest risks: the drones will be OBE by the time they arrive. Keeping costs low, using software and commercial components to incrementally upgrade drones will be key.
www.wsj.com/politics/nat...
www.wsj.com/politics/nat...
I joined Bloomberg Radio to talk about our recent analysis of the Golden Dome missile defense system. We covered what it would look like, how much it would cost, and what it would take to build. The answer? A lot of time and a lot of money.
youtu.be/1KbnsE-sVkA
youtu.be/1KbnsE-sVkA
The Astronomical Cost of Defeating ‘Any Foreign Aerial Attack’
YouTube video by Bloomberg Podcasts
youtu.be
December 15, 2025 at 5:40 PM
I joined Bloomberg Radio to talk about our recent analysis of the Golden Dome missile defense system. We covered what it would look like, how much it would cost, and what it would take to build. The answer? A lot of time and a lot of money.
youtu.be/1KbnsE-sVkA
youtu.be/1KbnsE-sVkA
ICYMI, we developed an architecture for Golden Dome capable of defending against aerial threats from China, Russia, and DPRK, in line with Trump's Executive Order. The price tag? A cool $1.1 Trillion -- and that is the cost of hardware alone.
Have a read (gift link below):
Have a read (gift link below):
Will Trump’s Golden Dome actually cost $175B? Nope.
Our @bloomberg.com visual analysis shows a $1.1T (yes, trillion!) cost to defend the US against aerial threats from Russia, China, and North Korea. Even a smaller architecture would cost $844B.
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
Our @bloomberg.com visual analysis shows a $1.1T (yes, trillion!) cost to defend the US against aerial threats from Russia, China, and North Korea. Even a smaller architecture would cost $844B.
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
Trump’s “Golden Dome” Missile Defense Plan Would Cost a Fortune
Building President Trump’s proposed missile and air defense system, meant to strike down threats all the way into space, would be an enormous task — with a huge price.
www.bloomberg.com
December 15, 2025 at 3:14 PM
ICYMI, we developed an architecture for Golden Dome capable of defending against aerial threats from China, Russia, and DPRK, in line with Trump's Executive Order. The price tag? A cool $1.1 Trillion -- and that is the cost of hardware alone.
Have a read (gift link below):
Have a read (gift link below):
Will Trump’s Golden Dome actually cost $175B? Nope.
Our @bloomberg.com visual analysis shows a $1.1T (yes, trillion!) cost to defend the US against aerial threats from Russia, China, and North Korea. Even a smaller architecture would cost $844B.
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
Our @bloomberg.com visual analysis shows a $1.1T (yes, trillion!) cost to defend the US against aerial threats from Russia, China, and North Korea. Even a smaller architecture would cost $844B.
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
Trump’s “Golden Dome” Missile Defense Plan Would Cost a Fortune
Building President Trump’s proposed missile and air defense system, meant to strike down threats all the way into space, would be an enormous task — with a huge price.
www.bloomberg.com
December 12, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Will Trump’s Golden Dome actually cost $175B? Nope.
Our @bloomberg.com visual analysis shows a $1.1T (yes, trillion!) cost to defend the US against aerial threats from Russia, China, and North Korea. Even a smaller architecture would cost $844B.
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
Our @bloomberg.com visual analysis shows a $1.1T (yes, trillion!) cost to defend the US against aerial threats from Russia, China, and North Korea. Even a smaller architecture would cost $844B.
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
“The US is behind the curve when it comes to lowering the cost per shot. No longer can the US expect to win a fight with expensive and exquisite weapons – it must also embrace low-cost systems like affordable drones it can reuse, or accept losing.”
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
US Deploys Cheap Attack Drone Copied From Iranian Technology
The Pentagon is deploying an attack drone that’s based on an Iranian model used against American and allied forces overseas, a tacit recognition of how the US defense sector has lagged in developing c...
www.bloomberg.com
December 3, 2025 at 8:25 PM
“The US is behind the curve when it comes to lowering the cost per shot. No longer can the US expect to win a fight with expensive and exquisite weapons – it must also embrace low-cost systems like affordable drones it can reuse, or accept losing.”
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Reposted by Becca Wasser
On today’s Big Take podcast: Bloomberg’s Nick Wadhams and Becca Wasser join David Gura to break down President Trump’s ultimate objective in Venezuela — and what the growing US military presence in the Caribbean reveals about what could come next.
What Trump Really Wants With Venezuela
On today’s Big Take podcast: What the growing US military presence in the Caribbean reveals about what President Trump plans for Venezuela.
bloom.bg
November 7, 2025 at 11:00 PM
On today’s Big Take podcast: Bloomberg’s Nick Wadhams and Becca Wasser join David Gura to break down President Trump’s ultimate objective in Venezuela — and what the growing US military presence in the Caribbean reveals about what could come next.
Ukraine’s drones are hitting Russia where it hurts: oil refineries that fuel and fund its war. Each strike cuts output and chips away at Moscow’s war chest. Kyiv’s bet: economic attrition where battlefield gains have stalled. More on Bloomberg Terminal: blinks.bloomberg.com/news/stories...
November 7, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Ukraine’s drones are hitting Russia where it hurts: oil refineries that fuel and fund its war. Each strike cuts output and chips away at Moscow’s war chest. Kyiv’s bet: economic attrition where battlefield gains have stalled. More on Bloomberg Terminal: blinks.bloomberg.com/news/stories...
The US isn't at war in Latin America, but the military build up hints it may be readying for strikes on Venezuela -- even if Trump says otherwise. I analyzed the options for a possible military campaign and the low odds of success.
Read on Bloomberg terminal: blinks.bloomberg.com/news/stories...
Read on Bloomberg terminal: blinks.bloomberg.com/news/stories...
November 5, 2025 at 5:40 PM
The US isn't at war in Latin America, but the military build up hints it may be readying for strikes on Venezuela -- even if Trump says otherwise. I analyzed the options for a possible military campaign and the low odds of success.
Read on Bloomberg terminal: blinks.bloomberg.com/news/stories...
Read on Bloomberg terminal: blinks.bloomberg.com/news/stories...
Zelensky wants Tomahawk missiles and Trump may finally agree this week. But limited stockpiles after overuse in the Middle East and poor procurement decisions means Ukraine may get too few to credibly impact the outcome of the war.
Read on Bloomberg terminal: blinks.bloomberg.com/news/stories...
Read on Bloomberg terminal: blinks.bloomberg.com/news/stories...
October 16, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Zelensky wants Tomahawk missiles and Trump may finally agree this week. But limited stockpiles after overuse in the Middle East and poor procurement decisions means Ukraine may get too few to credibly impact the outcome of the war.
Read on Bloomberg terminal: blinks.bloomberg.com/news/stories...
Read on Bloomberg terminal: blinks.bloomberg.com/news/stories...
Great to chat with Bloomberg Radio about NATO's response to Russia's airspace violations and Trump's about-face on Ukraine. My take: NATO's messages are a deterrent warning and Trump's pivot won't change facts on the ground without more US military aid to Kyiv.
www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/...
www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/...
Europeans Privately Tell Russia They’re Ready to Shoot Down Jets, Hegseth Summons Top Military Brass
European diplomats warned the Kremlin this week that NATO is ready to respond to further violations of its airspace with full force, including by shooting down Russian planes, according to officials f...
www.bloomberg.com
September 26, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Great to chat with Bloomberg Radio about NATO's response to Russia's airspace violations and Trump's about-face on Ukraine. My take: NATO's messages are a deterrent warning and Trump's pivot won't change facts on the ground without more US military aid to Kyiv.
www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/...
www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/...
Our take: "With current support, Ukraine is unlikely to regain lost territory. Ukraine would need a significant surge in Western military assistance, including ERAM and longer-range missiles, to halt Russian advances and enable counteroffensives."
www.bloomberg.com/news/live-bl...
www.bloomberg.com/news/live-bl...
Trump Hedges on US Support for NATO Hitting Russia Jets
UN General Assembly Live: News From Trump, Leader Speeches in New York
www.bloomberg.com
September 23, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Our take: "With current support, Ukraine is unlikely to regain lost territory. Ukraine would need a significant surge in Western military assistance, including ERAM and longer-range missiles, to halt Russian advances and enable counteroffensives."
www.bloomberg.com/news/live-bl...
www.bloomberg.com/news/live-bl...
Russian drones & jets keep testing NATO airspace. Operation Eastern Sentry aims to plug holes in Europe's defenses, but it reveals gaps in capability Russia can exploit -- especially if US reinforcements are not forthcoming.
Full analysis on the Terminal: blinks.bloomberg.com/news/stories...
Full analysis on the Terminal: blinks.bloomberg.com/news/stories...
September 23, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Russian drones & jets keep testing NATO airspace. Operation Eastern Sentry aims to plug holes in Europe's defenses, but it reveals gaps in capability Russia can exploit -- especially if US reinforcements are not forthcoming.
Full analysis on the Terminal: blinks.bloomberg.com/news/stories...
Full analysis on the Terminal: blinks.bloomberg.com/news/stories...