Cogs of War
LightNews LightNews
banner
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
Cogs of War
@cogs0fwar.bsky.social
170 followers 1 following 50 posts
https://warontherocks.com/category/blogs/cogs-of-war/
Posts Replies Media Videos
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
Washington is betting on innovation while competitors are betting on compliance. Right now, compliance is winning.
warontherocks.com/2025/11/how-...
How Washington Is Losing the AI Race No One Is Tracking
Spain — a NATO ally and founding member of the European Union — chose a Chinese company to manage its law enforcement wiretap systems. The €12.3 million
warontherocks.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:20 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
Congress designed a bill to keep advanced chips from China. Why is the Trump administration trying to bury it?
warontherocks.com/2025/11/the-...
The White House Risks Squandering Its Own AI Leadership
The White House is reportedly lobbying Congress to kill the GAIN AI Act. If accurate, this represents one of the more baffling policy reversals of the
warontherocks.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:15 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
Future AI agents can fuse sensor data, predict adversary tactics, and cue fires. What they can’t do is break out of stovepipes on their own.
warontherocks.com/2025/11/stov...
Stove-Piped Systems Will Strangle Advanced AI in the Cradle
Imagine deploying groundbreaking AI technologies — like machine learning and large language models — within defense organizations, only to confine them in
warontherocks.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:35 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
Modernization isn’t just about fielding more systems. It’s about making sure they’re actually ready when it counts.
warontherocks.com/2025/11/repl...
Replicator 3 Should Be the Sustainment Revolution
Under the Arizona sun, mothballed aircraft glisten in perfect rows at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. In the brackish calm of the James River, reserve ships
warontherocks.com
November 18, 2025 at 3:24 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
Slick marketing helps defense startups find investors and partners. It also helps America's adversaries map future capabilities.
warontherocks.com/2025/11/are-...
Are New Defense Companies Giving Away Sensitive Info Through Marketing?
“Loose lips sink ships.” It was catchy, memorable, and above all, true. That wisdom feels incompatible with Silicon Valley’s culture and business model,
warontherocks.com
November 13, 2025 at 4:25 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
The secretary’s speech made the case for speed and reform. The system will only deliver it if budget law, training, and congressional trust evolve with it.
warontherocks.com/2025/11/acqu...
Acquisition Transformation: How to Make it Last
There are plenty of elements to praise in Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s acquisition transformation announcement last week. The emphasis on speed and
warontherocks.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:06 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
The U.S. military has more autonomy programs than it can count — and fewer standards than it takes to make them work.
warontherocks.com/2025/11/with...
Without a Standard for Autonomy, the U.S. Military Will Get Lost in the Fog of War
Popular culture often distorts autonomy into science fiction caricatures. This framing obscures the real challenges and opportunities facing the U.S.
warontherocks.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:58 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
Modern intelligence lives in the open, but it takes mastery to stay unseen. This conversation explores the new hidden tradecraft of the open web.

Listen here: pod.link/1818133762/e...
November 6, 2025 at 2:37 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
The U.S. Navy’s production bottleneck isn’t theoretical. It’s now, and onshoring commercial shipping won’t fix it.
warontherocks.com/2025/11/amer...
America Should Build Its Own Warships While Buying Tankers
Shipbuilding is having a moment in Washington. That’s great, but hype doesn’t float boats. Reshoring commercial shipbuilding is billed as the key to
warontherocks.com
November 5, 2025 at 2:14 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
Engineers measure trust in data integrity. Lawyers measure it in liability. Operators measure it in survival. The Pentagon needs an arbiter who can make those tradeoffs real.
warontherocks.com/2025/11/warf...
Warfighters, Not Engineers, Decide What AI Can Be Trusted
Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series exploring key AI policy choices faced by the Department of Defense and Congress. Please also read the first:
warontherocks.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:55 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
The defense enterprise keeps choosing the easy wrong: another patch, another pilot, another promise. The harder right is to rebuild.
warontherocks.com/2025/11/a-cl...
A Clean Sheet Redesign of the Small Business Innovation Research Program
At a certain point in software development, patches, fixes, and repairs hit a point of diminishing returns. The system becomes so saturated with technical
warontherocks.com
November 3, 2025 at 6:32 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
The United States has built momentum in quantum. Smart policy will decide if it becomes an American jobs story.
warontherocks.com/2025/10/igni...
Igniting the American Quantum Economy
Editor’s Note: This is the third article in a four-part series. The first article, “America’s Quantum Moment,” was published on Oct. 13, 2025, and the
warontherocks.com
October 29, 2025 at 1:31 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
These companies are building fast, cheap, and upgradable missiles. Will Washington catch up?

Listen here: pod.link/1818133762/e...
October 23, 2025 at 1:38 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
A policy meant to streamline software procurement could instead grind innovation to a halt.
warontherocks.com/2025/10/the-...
The Air Force is Kneecapping Software Innovation
The Department of the Air Force chief information officer announced a new policy change by sharing a post from a contractor, with the tag, “Strategic
warontherocks.com
October 21, 2025 at 1:23 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
The quantum race isn’t just about qubits. It’s about what keeps them cold, powered, and pure. The second piece in our series examines the supply chains that decide who will build the future.
warontherocks.com/2025/10/the-...
The Supply Chain Chokepoints in Quantum
Editor’s Note: This is the second article in a four-part series. The first article, “America’s Quantum Moment,” was published on Oct. 13, 2025.  As
warontherocks.com
October 20, 2025 at 1:22 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
Quantum technology is moving from labs to markets. America’s strategy needs to keep pace.
warontherocks.com/2025/10/amer...
America’s Quantum Manufacturing Moment
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a four-part series. The world is in the early stages of the next industrial revolution: quantum technology. The
warontherocks.com
October 13, 2025 at 3:12 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
Most AI debates fixate on budgets or “killer robots.” The deeper questions are harder. This article is the first in a series confronting them.
warontherocks.com/2025/10/four...
Four AI Policy Choices Policymakers Can’t Afford to Get Wrong
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of articles. Subsequent articles will examine answers to each of the four questions laid out below. As
warontherocks.com
October 9, 2025 at 5:26 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
The U.S. government can build fabs. The real test is whether “chip-for-chip” can make them run.
warontherocks.com/2025/10/can-...
Can Lutnick’s Chip-for-Chip Idea Work?
The Commerce Department’s imminent Section 232 investigation — launched in April and expected to conclude soon — may fundamentally shift how the United
warontherocks.com
October 9, 2025 at 3:04 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
Dual-use tech is booming, but inflated valuations and shaky defense budgets could spell trouble. What does it take to succeed?

Listen here: pod.link/1818133762/e...
October 6, 2025 at 2:01 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
The future of war isn’t just cyber and space. Biology is moving to the front lines.
warontherocks.com/2025/10/when...
warontherocks.com
October 1, 2025 at 4:27 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
Politics, profit, and propulsion collide in the story of this American space launch company.

Listen here: pod.link/1818133762
September 24, 2025 at 6:44 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
Golden Dome is not one design but many. Each architecture carries its own price and its own risks.
warontherocks.com/2025/09/gold...
Golden Dome is a Trillion Dollar Gambit
U.S. President Donald Trump set high expectations for “Golden Dome.” His executive order directing development of this homeland air and missile defense
warontherocks.com
September 19, 2025 at 2:13 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
These authors reflect on their war techno-thriller that imagined the future fight — and then watched much of it come true.
warontherocks.com/2025/09/ghos...
Ghost Fleet, Ten Years Later: An Interview with P.W. Singer and August Cole
This exclusive Cogs of War interview is with P.W. Singer and August Cole, who in 2015 published Ghost Fleet, a futuristic thriller depicting the next
warontherocks.com
September 17, 2025 at 2:41 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
House and Senate appropriators shape the future of U.S. defense. This year, their bills reveal clear strategic contrasts.
warontherocks.com/2025/09/exam...
Examining House–Senate Differences in FY2026 Defense Appropriations
The House and Senate appropriations committees each approved their own versions of the Fiscal Year 2026 Department of Defense Appropriations Act in July,
warontherocks.com
September 11, 2025 at 2:34 PM
cogs0fwar.bsky.social
Data centers are no longer back-end utilities. They are strategic assets — and prime targets.
warontherocks.com/2025/09/data...
Data Centers on the 21st Century Battlefield
The most decisive infrastructure of the twenty-first century isn’t an aircraft carrier floating in the Pacific or buried in a missile silo. It hums
warontherocks.com
September 5, 2025 at 2:11 PM