Active Protection for Combat Vehicles, & More from CRS
Efforts to develop Active Protection Systems (APS) to defend military combat vehicles against rocket-propelled grenades or anti-tank missiles are reviewed in a new report from the Congressional Research Service.
An Active Protection System is supposed to detect an incoming threat, such as a grenade or a missile, and employ countermeasures to destroy or deflect it, all within a very brief period of time.
“A number of nations have operationally deployed APS on combat vehicles — Russia and Israel most notably — and some experts characterize U.S. efforts as somewhat lagging,” the CRS report said. “U.S. military officials contend there are still a number of developmental and safety challenges that must be overcome before current APS systems are suitable for battlefield deployment.”
See Army and Marine Corps Active Protection System (APS) Efforts, August 23, 2016.
Other new and updated Congressional Research Service reports that have not been publicly released include the following.
Stealing Trade Secrets and Economic Espionage: An Overview of the Economic Espionage Act, updated August 19, 2016
The Zika Outbreak Is Declared a Public Health Emergency in Puerto Rico, CRS Insight, August 17, 2016
Organization of American States: Background and Issues for Congress, updated August 22, 2016
U.S. Trade with Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Partners, updated August 18, 2016
Fact Sheet: Selected Highlights of the FY2017 Military Construction Appropriations Bills, August 18, 2016
Navy John Lewis (TAO-205) Class Oiler Shipbuilding Program: Background and Issues for Congress, updated August 18, 2016
Navy Columbia Class (Ohio Replacement) Ballistic Missile Submarine (SSBN[X]) Program: Background and Issues for Congress, updated August 18, 2016
Taxation of U.S. Olympic Medal Winners, CRS Insight, August 18, 2016
How Treasury Issues Debt, updated August 18, 2016
Overview of CEQ Guidance on Greenhouse Gases and Climate Change, CRS Insight, August 18, 2016
Iran: Politics, Gulf Security, and U.S. Policy, updated August 19, 2016
Presidential Appointee Positions Requiring Senate Confirmation and Committees Handling Nominations, updated August 23, 2016
After months of delay, the council tasked by President Trump to review the FEMA released its final report. Our disaster policy nerds have thoughts.
FAS and FLI partnered to build a series of convenings and reports across the intersections of artificial intelligence (AI) with biosecurity, cybersecurity, nuclear command and control, military integration, and frontier AI governance. This project brought together leaders across these areas and created a space that was rigorous, transpartisan, and solutions-oriented to approach how we should think about how AI is rapidly changing global risks.
Investment should instead be directed at sectors where American technology and innovation exist but the infrastructure to commercialize them domestically does not—and where the national security case is clear.
AI is already consequential, but its future trajectory remains contested. Policymakers should make their assumptions explicit, focus on what can be shaped rather than what can be perfectly predicted, and build institutions that can learn and respond as evidence changes.