summary of the 2018 us national defense strategy report

Editor's note: on January 19, 2018, the U.S. Department of Defense issued the 2018 version of the national defense strategy report. The report mainly analyzes and evaluates the strategic environment faced by the United States, highlights the challenges of "big power competition" such as China and Russia, and puts such challenges ahead of terrorism. On this basis, the report describes the strategic objectives of the construction and development of the U.S. national defense and military, as well as the strategic measures to achieve the relevant objectives, which will provide strategic guidance for the trump administration to promote the "reconstruction of the U.S. military" and plan to issue the "national military strategy". To this end, we have translated the outline of the national defense strategy report for relevant personnel to study.

Location of the U.S. Department of Defense: the Pentagon

Chapter I Introduction

The long-term mission of the Department of defense is to provide credible military forces needed to deter war and safeguard national security. If deterrence fails, the coalition is ready to win. As a complement to traditional U.S. diplomacy, the Department of defense provides military options to presidents and diplomats to ensure that they negotiate with strength.

Today, we are stepping out of a period of strategic contraction and realizing that our military competitive advantage is being eroded. We are facing deeper global chaos, characterized by the decline of a long-term rule-based international order - a security environment that is more complex than we have experienced in recent times. Strategic competition among nations is now the primary issue of US national security, not terrorism.

As a strategic opponent, China coerces its neighbors with predatory economic activities and militarizes the islands and reefs in the South China Sea. Russia infringes on the borders of its neighbours and seeks a veto over their economic, diplomatic and security decisions. In addition, North Korea continues its illegal behavior and reckless speech despite the condemnation and sanctions of the United Nations; Iran continues to incite violence, which still poses the greatest challenge to the stability of the Middle East region; although the entity organization of the "Islamic state" has been defeated, its threat to regional stability still exists, and terrorist organizations continue to kill innocent people and pose a broader threat to regional peace.

This increasingly complex security environment is mainly reflected in the rapid change of technology, the challenge of adversaries in all operational areas, and the impact of the longest lasting conflict on the current combat readiness level in the history of the country. In this environment, we must not be complacent. We must make hard choices and determine the priority areas for the deployment of a joint force with strong lethality, flexibility and adaptability. On the battlefield, the American army has no right to win.

The declassification outline of this confidential 2018 national defense strategy report clearly defines our strategy as competition, deterrence and victory in this environment. The re emergence of long-term strategic competition, the rapid spread of science and technology, as well as new concepts of war and competition across all conflict areas, all need to build a joint force to meet the practical needs.

A joint force with more lethality, tenacity and rapid innovation, coupled with strong allies and partners, can maintain the influence of the United States, ensure a favorable balance of forces for the United States, and maintain a free and open international order. In general, our strength posture, the structure of allies and partners, and the modernization of the Ministry of defense will provide the capabilities and flexibility needed to win the conflict and maintain peace through strength.

The cost of not implementing this strategy is obvious. Failure to achieve our defense goals will weaken the global influence of the United States, undermine the cohesion of our allies and partners, reduce market access, and lead to our prosperity and lower living standards. If we do not make sustained and predictable investments to reorganize our combat readiness and modernize our military in order to adapt the military to the current era, we will soon lose our military advantage, leading to the backwardness of the joint forces weapons system and the inability to protect our people.

▲ cover of 2018 US National Defense Strategy Report

Chapter II strategic environment

This report recognizes that the United States is in an increasingly complex international security environment, characterized by a blatant challenge to the free and open international order and the re emergence of long-term strategic competition among countries. These changes require a clear assessment of the threats we face, a recognition that the characteristics of the war are changing and a change in the way the Department of defense operates.

The main challenge to the prosperity and security of the United States is the re emergence of long-term strategic competition. These competitions come from the revisionist powers defined in the national defense strategy. China and Russia want to shape a world in line with their authoritarian model - a veto over other countries' economic, diplomatic and security decisions.

This is becoming more and more clear. China is using its military modernization, influential actions and predatory economic activities to intimidate its neighbors and reshape the order in the Indian Pacific region. With the continuous improvement of economic and military strength, for the long-term strategy of the whole nation, China will continue to pursue military modernization in order to obtain the hegemony of the Indian Pacific region in the near future and replace the United States to gain global dominance in the future. The most profound goal of this national defense strategy is to put the military relations between China and the United States on a transparent and non aggression path.

At the same time, Russia seeks the veto power in the government, economic and diplomatic decision-making of its neighboring countries, in order to destroy the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and change the security and economic structure of Europe and the Middle East in an advantageous way. The use of emerging technologies to disrupt and subvert the democratic processes in Georgia, Crimea and eastern Ukraine is already worrying. Coupled with the expansion and modernization of nuclear arsenals, the Russian challenge is self-evident.

Another change in the strategic environment is the flexible but weakening post World War II international order. In the decades after the defeat of fascism, the United States and its allies and partners established a free and open international order in order to better protect their freedom and people from aggression and coercion. After the end of the cold war, despite the continuous evolution of this system, our network of allies and partners remains the pillar of global security. China and Russia are now weakening the international order in this system, benefiting from it while undermining its principles and rules.

Rogue regimes such as North Korea and Iran are undermining regional stability by pursuing nuclear weapons and financing terrorism. In order to ensure a stable regime and increase bargaining power, North Korea has developed nuclear, biological, chemical, conventional, non conventional weapons and ballistic missile capabilities to intimidate South Korea, Japan and the United States. In the Middle East, Iran is competing with its neighbors. While insisting on exporting its influence, Iran is competing for regional hegemony. It uses state supported terrorist activities, expanding agent networks and missile programs to achieve its goals.

Revisionist countries and rogue regimes compete in all aspects of power. In addition to armed conflict, they have increased their efforts in various aspects, including increasing coercion in new areas, violating the principle of sovereignty, using vague strategies, and deliberately confusing the boundaries between civil and military purposes.

Another change in the global security environment is the challenge to the military superiority of the United States. For decades, the United States has enjoyed unparalleled or absolute superiority in every combat area. Usually, we can deploy troops at any time, gather wherever we want to, and carry out military operations in the way we want. Today, however, we are facing competition in every field, such as air, ground, ocean, space and cyberspace.

We are facing a more deadly and destructive battlefield than ever before. This battlefield spans many fields, and the speed of implementation and evolution of combat is faster and faster - from close combat to all overseas battlefields, to the United States. Some competitors and adversaries are trying to find weaknesses in the U.S. operational network and concept, while also using other areas of competition where there is no open war to achieve their goals (such as information warfare, vague or denial of agency action, and subversive activities). These trends, if not addressed, will challenge our ability to resist aggression.

The rapid development of science and technology and the constant change of war patterns also have an impact on the security environment. The driving force of the development of emerging technology has existed for a long time, which provides lower access threshold for more actors, and has been in a state of accelerating promotion. Emerging technologies include advanced computing, big data analytics, artificial intelligence, autonomic technologies, robotics, directed energy, hypersonic, and Biotechnology - technologies that will ensure our ability to win future wars.

New business technologies will change society and ultimately the shape of war. In fact, a lot of technology research and development will come from the commercial sector. This means that national competitors and non-state actors can also access these technologies. This fact puts the conventional forces, which have long dominated the United States, at risk of erosion. To maintain DoD's technological advantage, we need to change the industrial culture and investment sources, and protect the national security innovation base.

Countries are the main actors in the international arena, but non-state actors with increasingly powerful capabilities are also threatening the security environment. Terrorists, transnational criminal organizations, cyber hackers and other malicious non-state actors have changed some global affairs by taking advantage of large-scale destructive power. There is also a good side to this. Our partners in maintaining national security go beyond countries: multilateral organizations, non-governmental organizations, enterprises and people with strategic influence provide opportunities for mutual collaboration and partnership. Despite the defeat of the "Islamic state" entity, terrorism persists because of ideology and unstable political and economic structures.

There is no denying that the United States is no longer a sanctuary. The United States has been targeted. This threat comes from terrorists who try to attack our people; malicious network activities against individuals, businesses, government infrastructure; or political and information subversion activities. New threats to commercial and military use of space are emerging, and increasing digital connections in all aspects of life, commerce, government and military have also created serious weaknesses. During the conflict, it is important to anticipate possible attacks on our vital national defense, government and economic infrastructure.

Rogue regimes, such as North Korea, are still trying to acquire or develop weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and long-range missiles, and in some cases will spread these capabilities to evil actors, as Iran exports ballistic missiles. Terrorists also pursue weapons of mass destruction. At the same time, the proliferation of nuclear weapons technology and advanced manufacturing technology remain a continuing problem. Recent developments in bioengineering have also raised concerns that the potential, types and accessibility of biological weapons will increase.

U.S. Defense Secretary: James Matisse

Chapter III objectives of the Ministry of national defense

In support of the national security strategy, the Department of defense stands ready to defend the homeland, maintain the world's leading military force, ensure a balance of forces conducive to the United States, and develop an international order most conducive to the security and prosperity of the United States.

Long term strategic competition with China and Russia is a top priority for the Ministry of defense. This requires increased and sustained investment, as they pose a huge threat to the security and prosperity of the United States today, and these threats may continue to grow in the future. At the same time, the Department of defense will continue to work to deter and counter rogue regimes, such as North Korea and Iran, thwart terrorist threats against the United States, and consolidate our achievements in Iraq and Afghanistan in the search for a resource sustainable approach.

The defense objectives include: to protect the homeland from attack; to maintain the military superiority of joint forces in global and key areas; to deter adversaries from infringing our major interests; to assist colleagues of various departments of the U.S. government in developing the influence and interests of the United States; to maintain a favorable regional balance of power in the Indian Ocean Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and the Western Hemisphere; to protect allies from military invasion and reinforcement The ability of partner countries to cope with coercion and share the responsibility of common defense fairly; dissuading, preventing or deterring national opponents and non-state actors from acquiring, proliferating or using weapons of mass destruction; preventing terrorists from instigating or supporting attacks against nationals, allies and partners of the United States and the United States overseas; ensuring the openness and freedom of the public domain; changing the thinking and culture of the Department of Defense At the same time of the management system, we will continue to deliver combat capabilities economically and efficiently, and establish a first-class national security innovation base in the 21st century to effectively support the operation of the U.S. Department of defense and maintain its security and financial strength.

▲ Nimitz class aircraft carrier main force of US Navy's ocean battle group

Chapter IV strategic approach

The long-term strategic competition needs the organic integration of various elements of state power (diplomacy, information, economy, finance, intelligence, law enforcement and military). What is stronger than any other country is that the United States can expand its competitive space, take the initiative, and challenge our competitors in areas where the enemy is superior to us. With a more lethal military, a strong alliance and partnership, and an American culture of technological innovation and performance, the decisive military advantage of the United States will continue.

Because we want to expand the space of competition, we need to continuously throw olives to competitors and competitors, and create opportunities for cooperation with competitors on the premise of ensuring our national interests. If cooperation fails, we are ready to protect the American people, our values and our interests. The willingness of adversaries to abandon aggression depends on their fear of US military power and their affirmation of our alliance and partnership.

It is predictable in strategy and unpredictable in action. There are different challenges in restricting or defeating long-term strategic competitors compared with restricting or defeating regional rivals, which are the previous strategic priorities. The military forces and cooperative operations between us and the allies will realize our promise to prevent the enemy from invading, but our dynamic force deployment, military posture and military operations must be kept secret from the enemy's decision makers. We will work with our allies and partners to deal with our opponents, put them in a disadvantageous situation, frustrate their efforts, expand our choices while limiting their choices, and force them to face conflicts in a disadvantageous situation.

Integrate all departments. All departments of the United States need to work together to use various national forces to effectively expand the space for competition. We will promote government, finance, justice, energy, homeland security, commerce, international development agency, intelligence community, law enforcement and other forces to identify and establish cooperation to enhance our economic, technological and information strength.

We are opposed to coercion and regime subversion. In the non military conflict, in order to win the competition, revisionist forces and rogue regime use corruption, economic plunder, illegal propaganda, regime subversion, puppet regime and threat of force to gain the advantage. Some are particularly good at exploiting their economic relationships with our allies. We support all sectors of the United States, together with our allies and partners, in opposing this kind of coercion.

Be alert. In order to win in the new security environment, our government departments and joint forces must defeat revisionist forces and rogue regimes, terrorists and other dangerous forces in terms of ideology, action, innovative development and partnership.

In addition to winning the competitive advantage, we will continue to work in the following three areas:

First, strengthen combat readiness and build a strong joint force

Second, strengthen alliance relations and develop more allies

Third, reform government organs, improve work efficiency and guarantee ability

1、 Building a more lethal force

It is better to prepare to win the war than to avoid it. To achieve this, we need competitive means of force development, continuous investment to strengthen combat readiness and deploy a more lethal force. The size of the force is important. The United States must deploy sufficient and powerful forces to defeat the enemy. Only by achieving objective results can the interests of the American people and the nation be protected. Our goal is to build a joint force that can gain an absolute advantage in the face of any possible conflict and maintain an advantage in the whole process of dealing with the conflict.

（1） Priority should be given to war preparation. Peace by force requires the joint forces to rely on better combat readiness to stop the war. In daily training, the joint forces must remain competitive enough to deal with the following threats: to prevent invasion from three key areas, namely, the Indian Ocean Pacific region, Europe and the Middle East; to reduce the threat of terrorists and weapons of mass destruction; and to defend the interests of the United States in the challenges below the level of armed struggle. In times of war, fully operational joint forces should have the following capabilities: thwarting the invasion of other powers; preventing the invasion of speculators in other regions; and crushing the threat of imminent terrorists and weapons of mass destruction. Whether in wartime or peacetime, the joint forces will stop any nuclear or non nuclear strategic attack and defend our land. In order to accomplish these tasks, the joint force must acquire and maintain its dominant position in the field of information, while developing, strengthening and maintaining various security relations in the United States.

（2） Modernization of key core competencies. We can't expect to win tomorrow's war with yesterday's weapons and equipment. In order to keep up with the ambitions and capabilities of our competitors and competitors, we must increase our investment in modern core capabilities through a continuous and predictable budget. In the past decade or so, we have postponed many necessary preparations, procurement and modernization requirements, which have been overstocked for a long time and are increasing day by day, and we can no longer ignore them. We will increase the investment in personnel and equipment to meet the key capability requirements. Based on our budget for the 2019-2023 fiscal year, the 2018 defense strategy report will accelerate our modernization programs and commit to continuously increasing key additional investment to consolidate our competitive advantage.

1. Nuclear power. DOD will modernize our trinity of nuclear forces - including nuclear command and control communications (NC3) and related infrastructure support. Modern nuclear forces include a variety of solutions to the enemy's oppressive strategy, depending on the threat of use of nuclear weapons or non nuclear strategic weapons.

2. The war between space and cyberspace. The Department of defense will prioritize funding for projects to restore and rebuild and ensure the capability to execute space missions, while also investing in Cyber Defense, resilience, and further deepening the integration of cyber space capabilities with large-scale military operations.

3. Command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. The budget will give priority to the development of joint networks and information ecosystems with high resilience and survivability, which will rise from a tactical level to a strategic planning level. The budget will also give priority to improving the ability to access and further use information, offset the advantages of the same areas of the hostile forces, and enable us to be in a favorable position in resisting cyber attacks, whether as a government or non-government.

4. Missile defense. Investment will be focused on the development of layered missile defense and the destruction capability of incoming missiles in response to the threat of missiles in the theater and the threat of ballistic missiles in North Korea.

5. Joint lethality in a conflict environment. The joint force must have the ability to strike multiple targets in the air and missile defense system of the enemy, destroy the mobile weapon launch platform of the enemy, including enhancing the destruction ability of close combat in the complex terrain environment.

6. Forward force mobility and situational flexibility. Priority will be given to investment in development to ensure that land, air, sea and space forces can deploy, survive, operate, maneuver and recover in all operational areas in the event of an attack. In addition, priority should be given to transforming large, centralized and non fixed infrastructure into a smaller, decentralized, resilient and resilient base with active and passive defense capabilities.

7. Advanced autonomous system. The Ministry of defense will invest extensively in the military application of technologies such as autonomous weapons, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and the rapid application of commercial technology breakthroughs to gain military competitive advantage.

8. Flexible and flexible logistics support. Priority will be given to pre positioned publishing and ammunition, strategic mobile assets, partner and allied support, as well as logistics and maintenance independent of business, to ensure the normal operation of the logistics system in the event of sustained multi domain attacks.

（3） Develop innovative operational concepts. Military modernization means not only the modernization of hardware, but also the organization and application of combat forces. We must anticipate the changes that new technologies may bring to the battlefield, strictly define the military problems that may arise in future conflicts, and cultivate a culture that draws conclusions through experiments and planned risk tests. We must anticipate how our competitors and enemies will try to defeat us with new operational concepts and technologies while we develop new operational concepts to expand our competitive advantage and enhance our combat capability.

（4） We will develop a flexible, lethal and resilient force posture and application. The situation and application of power must be able to adapt to the uncertainty generated by the changing global strategic environment. At present, many of our military deployment patterns can be traced back to the cold war, when our military superiority was beyond our reach, and the primary threat we faced came from the barbaric regime.

1. Dynamic force application. "Dynamic force application" will keep the force scale and ability to deal with large-scale operations in the first place, and provide options for active and moderate use of joint forces. The modern global combat mode has a flexible and reliable battlefield situation, which can improve the competitiveness of troops and provide mobility in wartime, so as to provide better military options for national decision makers.

The global strategic environment requires more strategic flexibility and freedom of movement. The concept of "dynamic force application" will change the way that DOD uses joint forces, providing proactive and scalable options to address priorities. "Application of dynamic forces" can make more flexible use of standing forces to actively shape the strategic environment, while maintaining combat readiness to deal with emergencies and maintain long-term combat readiness.

2. Global mode of operations. "Global operation mode" refers to how to deploy and use joint forces to gain competitive advantage and complete wartime tasks. Its basic capabilities include: nuclear capability, network operation capability, space operation capability, C4ISR, strategic mobility capability and ability to cope with the proliferation of WMD. The "global operation mode" includes four levels: the first level is "contact", that is, to achieve the goal more effectively without armed conflict; the second level is "delay", that is, to delay or refuse the invasion of the opponent; the third level is "assault", that is, to launch the combat forces that win the war and control the escalation of the conflict; the fourth level is "retreat", that is, to focus on the withdrawal of forces To protect the United States and homeland security.

（5） Training talents. The recruitment, training and retention of a high-quality active service and civilian personnel team is essential to win the battle. In order to cultivate a smart and lethal combat force, in addition to new technologies and new situations, it is more dependent on the ability of the warfighter and the staff of the Department of defense to integrate new capabilities, adapt to new modes of operation, and change the inherent practices to achieve mission success. The creativity and talent of American warfighters is our greatest and most enduring strength, which cannot be ignored.

1. Vocational military education (PME). Vocational and military education has always been too much emphasis on achieving required scores, at the expense of lethality and creativity. We will attach great importance to rational leadership, strengthen the military's professionalism in war science and art, deepen the study of history, and embrace new technologies and technologies that can defeat competitors. Vocational military education will pay more attention to the awareness of independent combat in the war, so as to reduce the impact of poor communication during the war. As a strategic asset, vocational military education will help to enhance trust and synergy within the joint force, as well as with allied and partner forces.

2. Talent management. Training leaders with national decision-making capabilities requires extensive revision of the force's talent management mechanisms, including scholarships, civilian education, and increased understanding of cross sectoral, allied, and allied decision-making processes.

3. Civilian expert team. A modern, flexible, information enabled Department of defense needs a passionate, diverse, highly skilled civilian workforce. We should attach importance to new skills, and add information experts, data scientists, computer programmers, basic science researchers and engineers to the existing talent team, so as to use information rather than simply manage it. DOD will continue to seek simplified, non-traditional ways to bring key technologies into the military, expand access to outside expertise, and create new public-private partnerships to work with small companies, new companies and universities.

U.S. global military base distribution map

2、 Consolidating alliances and attracting new partners

Mutually beneficial alliances and partnerships are essential to our strategy and can provide us with long-term asymmetric strategic advantages unmatched by our competitors and enemies. In the past 75 years, both wartime and peacetime, mutually beneficial alliances and partnerships have served the United States. Our allies and partners helped us after the 9 / 11 attacks and contributed to every major U.S. - led military operation since then. Our allies and partners are working with us every day to defend freedom, contain wars and uphold rules, and strengthen a free and open international order.

Through cooperation with allies and partners, we have gained strength to the greatest extent, so as to develop long-term interests, maintain a balance of forces favorable to us, thus deterring invasion, maintaining stability, and promoting economic growth. When we pool resources and share responsibilities in common defense, the security burden we bear will be reduced. Our allies and partners can provide complementary operational capabilities and forces, as well as unique perspectives, regional relations and information, which can help us better understand the environment and enrich our choices. Allies and partners can also provide us access to key areas, support the establishment of large-scale bases and logistics support systems, and enhance the global reach capability of the Department of defense.

We will strengthen and develop our alliances and partnerships into networks that can deter or decisively respond to our common challenges in this period. We will focus on three aspects to build a network of allies and partners:

Adhere to the basis of mutual respect, responsibility, priority and accountability. Our alliances and alliances are based on free will and shared responsibility. Although we firmly represent the democratic beliefs and values of the United States, we will not impose our way of life on others. We will abide by our commitments and expect our allies and partners to contribute their fair and reasonable share to mutually beneficial collective security, including making effective investments to enhance their defense capabilities. We are jointly responsible for resisting the trend of dictatorship, radical ideology and unstable factors.

We will expand regional consultation mechanisms and develop cooperation plans. We will take strengthening regional alliance and security cooperation as our goal, and develop a new type of partnership around common interests. We will send a clear and consistent message to our allies and partners to encourage them to contribute actively, strengthen defense cooperation and increase military investment.

Strengthen the ability of cooperative operation. Each ally and partner is a unique individual. Effective and consistent operation of coalition forces to achieve military objectives requires cooperative combat capabilities. Coordinative combat capability is one of the most important issues in the development of combat concept, modular force elements, communication and information sharing, and equipment development. In consultation with Congress and the State Department, the Ministry of defense will give priority to the sale of military equipment, accelerate the modernization of weapons and equipment in partner countries, and build the capacity to integrate with the US military. We will conduct training around high-end combat tasks in allied exercises, bilateral and multilateral exercises.

Based on our basic alliance and supplemented by our alliance's own security network, maintaining the alliance relationship and long-term security partnership are still the key points:

Expand the India Pacific Alliance and partnership. The free and open Indo Pacific region brings prosperity and security to all parties. We will consolidate the India Pacific Alliance and partnership, and build a safe network that can deter invasion, maintain stability and ensure freedom of navigation. Together with major countries in the region, we will use bilateral and multilateral security relations to maintain a free and open international system.

Strengthen the NATO alliance across the Atlantic. A strong and Free Europe, based on the common principles of democracy and national sovereignty and committed to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, is essential to our security. This alliance will deter Russian adventurism, defeat terrorists who seek to murder innocent people, and solve the problems caused by the unstable arc around NATO. At the same time, NATO must reform and keep pace with the times in terms of purpose, capability and rapid decision-making. We look forward to the European allies fulfilling their commitments to increase expenditure on national defense and military modernization in order to enhance the ability of the alliance to deal with common security issues.

Build a lasting alliance in the Middle East. We will promote the construction of a stable and secure Middle East, so that it will no longer be a haven for terrorists, no longer be controlled by any power hostile to the United States, and contribute to a stable global energy market and a secure trade route. We will develop a lasting alliance to consolidate our achievements in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and other regions, cut off the source of terrorist power and fight against Iran, and provide support for the permanent defeat of terrorists.

Maintain dominance in the Western Hemisphere. A stable and peaceful western hemisphere will reduce the security threats faced by the United States and make the United States gain great benefits from it. To support U.S. interagency leadership, the Department of defense will enhance relations with regional countries that contribute military power to address common regional and global security challenges.

Support the establishment of a partnership to address the serious threat of terrorism in Africa. We will strengthen existing bilateral and multilateral partnerships and develop new ones to deal with terrorist threats that threaten the interests of the United States and pose serious challenges to Europe and the Middle East. We will focus on relying on local partners and the European Union to work with and through them to weaken terrorists; develop the capabilities needed to fight violent extremism, human trafficking, transnational crime and illegal arms exchanges; and limit the malicious influence of "non" African forces.

3、 Reform the Department of defense to improve performance and economic applicability

It has been proved that the current bureaucratic approach, which takes the firm pursuit of accuracy as the core and the utmost risk reduction as the highest, is increasingly impractical. We have to move to a culture of performance and focus on results and accountability. We will establish a management system to enable leaders to seize opportunities and ensure effective management of taxpayer resources. It's our duty to make every dollar taxpayers spend on defense work to its full value and win the trust of Congress and the American people.

（1） Improve performance from a practical point of view. Success is no longer about the country that first developed a technology, but about the country that can better integrate technology and adjust its way of fighting. Current processes are no longer adapted to changing needs; DOD is too optimistic about achieving superior performance at the cost of not being able to provide decision-making, policy, and capabilities to warfighters in a timely manner. We will respond by focusing on delivery speed, adapting to the environment and upgrading modules frequently. We will never accept the tedious approval process, waste resources in non competitive areas, or excessively avoid risks and hinder the thinking of change. Excellent performance means that we should get rid of outdated management practices and systems and integrate into business innovation thinking.

（2） Organizational structure innovation. DoD's management system and procedures are not static, but a means to provide combatants with the knowledge, equipment and support systems needed to win the war. DOD leaders will adjust the organizational structure to provide the best support to the joint force. If the current system hinders the promotion of lethal strike capability or function, the ministers and heads of departments of various services shall carry out necessary merger, reduction or reorganization. DOD leaders are committed to changing authority, granting waivers, and ensuring external support for streamlining processes and organizations.

（3） Promote the development of budget rules and payment ability to obtain solvency. Effective fund management is the beginning of better control. DOD will continue to pursue plans to make all operations fully auditable and improve financing procedures, systems, and tools to identify, manage, and save money. We will continue to use our standards of action to improve the efficiency of material and service acquisition, while seeking opportunities to consolidate and simplify contracts in areas such as logistics, information technology and support services. We will also continue our efforts to reduce management overhead and the size of our headquarters. We will reduce the duplication of organizations that manage human resources, finance, health services, tourism and security. DOD will also work to reduce excess assets and infrastructure and provide Congress with the option of "base adjustment and closure" (BRC).

（4） Simplify the fast iterative approach from R & D to deployment. Developing capabilities in a fast, iterative manner can reduce costs, prevent technological backwardness, and reduce acquisition risk. DOD will restructure its incentive and reporting mechanisms to improve delivery, ensure design revenue in the requirements process, enhance the role of warfighters and intelligence analysis throughout the acquisition process, and leverage non-traditional suppliers. The prototype shall be manufactured and tested before the requirements are specified and the ready-made commercial system is determined to be used. The electronic equipment and software on the platform must be designed to be replaceable on a regular basis, rather than a solidified configuration that has been used continuously for more than ten years. This approach, an important rejection of past practices and cultures, will enable the Department of defense to respond more quickly to changes in the security environment and make it more difficult for competitors to surpass our systems.

（5） Utilize and protect the foundation of national security innovation. DoD's technological advantages depend on a healthy and secure national security innovation foundation that can accommodate both traditional and non-traditional defense partners. The Department of defense, with congressional support, will provide adequate predictability to the defense industry and guide its long-term investment in critical skills, infrastructure, and research and development. We will continue to streamline processes so that new entrants and small-scale suppliers can deliver cutting-edge technology. We will also foster international partnerships to facilitate and ensure the investment of partner countries in military capabilities.

Chapter V Conclusion

This strategy makes clear my intention to implement large-scale reforms as soon as possible.

In the process of deploying the joint forces, we must use creative methods, continuous investment and strict implementation. Only in this way can the forces adapt to the requirements of the times, compete, deter and win in the increasingly complex security environment. A strong joint force will protect our national security, enhance the influence of the United States, protect our access to markets that can improve our living standards, and strengthen the cohesion between our allies and partners.

Although any strategy needs to be adjusted in the process of implementation, this summary outlines what we must do to pass on the freedom we enjoy today to the next generation. But there is nothing new in the world: this strategy requires the continuous investment of the American people, but we should also remember our ancestors. It is because of their more tragic sacrifice that we can enjoy today's lifestyle.

Like our predecessors, free American soldiers will protect us with skill and courage. History teaches us that the realization of any strategy requires full wisdom and resources. I believe that this national defense strategy is at the right time and deserves the support of the American people.

Wang Ke

IMCAFS

summary of the 2018 us national defense strategy report