On January 20, 1986, as noted on the very first cover of Defense News, the State Department was mulling a ban on sales of US military hardware to Iraq, "because of that country's support for international terrorism."  

Contrast that with the current situation, where Iraqi-led forces are engaged in a brutal battle to liberate the city of Mosul after two years of ISIS rule.

As Greek philosopher Heraclitus once said: "All is flux, nothing stays still."  

Indeed, a lot can happen in 30 years. Defense News was founded at the tail end of the Cold War – three years before the Berlin Wall came down and five years before the Soviet Union collapsed. Within a decade, the Defense Department's budget was slashed, the industrial base was forced to reshape itself, and base realignments and closures were in full swing.

And yet, during that same period, a militant Sunni Islamist multi-national organization was founded, gained traction, and within a decade mounted terrorist attacks against the US and allies. The US and its allies were pulled into war. A technology backbone redefined the battlefield. And cyberattacks confounded the military and intel community.

Very quickly the threat shifted, and then the threat shifted again. And with those shifts, the entire defense market has been forced to pivot. For the military and private sector alike, there's been a notable need to adapt in the last three decades. 

So what seemed like a rather odd time to launch a defense weekly proved ideal, as defense officials and executives tried to figure out what to do as their worlds kept changing. 

But if you look again at that first Defense News cover, there is also news of the day that looks eerily familiar. In 1986, the Navy was buying P-3 Orion anti-sub warfare and patrol aircraft, and today the Navy remains the largest P-3 operator. Then, the Pentagon and vendors were at odds over documentation and technical data for software, an issue that today remains a pain point in government and industry's ability to collaborate on development.  

So then we're confronted with a rather philosophical and admittedly subjective question: What was most consequential? In the last 30 years, as the threat time and again transformed and necessitated a shift in approach for the military, who led the transformation and who impeded it? Which programs enabled change, and which failed miserably and squandered funds? What innovations enabled defense agencies to gain superiority, and which of those innovations stood the test of time?

Answering those questions is no small feat, but we've tried. With valuable input from members of our advisory board, Defense News identified the 10 influencers, 10 initiatives, and 10 innovations that shaped global defense during the last 30 years, for better or worse. Many will be recognizable. A few might not be. But all left their mark, and are worthy of conversation. We hope to spur some.


A special thank you to members of the  Defense News advisory board that contributed  to this project:

Bob Hale
Booz Allen fellow, former Defense Department comptroller

Maj Gen Arnold Punaro (ret.)
The Punaro Group CEO, former Senate Armed Services Committee staff director

Lt Gen David Deptula (ret.)
Dean of the Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Power Studies, former Air Force deputy chief of staff

Mackenzie Eaglen
Resident fellow, the American Enterprise Institute

Linda Hudson
Cardea Group CEO, former CEO of BAE Systems Inc.

Lt Gen Bill Phillips (ret.)
Boeing vice president, former Army deputy to the assistant secretary for acquisition

Todd Harrison
Director of the Aerospace Security Project and defense budget analysist at CSIS

This article is part of a larger Defense News 30-year anniversary project, showcasing the people, programs and innovations from the last three decades that most shaped the global security arena. Go to defensenews.com/30th to see all of our coverage.

Jill Aitoro is editor of Defense News. She is also executive editor of Sightline Media's Business-to-Government group, including Defense News, C4ISRNET, Federal Times and Fifth Domain. She brings over 15 years’ experience in editing and reporting on defense and federal programs, policy, procurement, and technology.

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