Washington, D.C. – Among the essential first steps in assessing U.S. national defense requirements is understanding the nature and characteristics of the primary warfighting domains—land, air, sea, space, and cyber—and how U.S. forces mutually leverage their unique strengths to accomplish objectives as a joint force. 

The Heritage Foundation, as part of its upcoming “2018 Index of U.S. Military Strength,” has sponsored a series of essays by noted experts, each of which examines one of these crucial warfighting domains.

The “2018 Index of U.S. Military Strength” will be released Oct. 5, 2017. In advance of the release of the fourth edition of the “Index,” The Heritage Foundation will be releasing this set of essays, one per week.

The first essay, authored by Dr. David E. Johnson, a noted military historian, U.S. Army strategist, and expert on military innovation and land operations, covers the land domain and the forces and operations shaped by it, and can be read here.

Each essay defines the most important and enduring characteristics of its respective domain, explains evolving trends related to the domain, and how they are affecting the conduct of war in and through the domain.

These essays will be contained in The Heritage Foundation’s “2018 Index of U.S. Military Strength,” the annual authoritative evaluation of the current state of U.S. military power and its ability to defend national security interests in an increasingly challenging world. Decision-makers across the U.S. political and defense establishments look to the Index for its unvarnished assessments based on unassailable facts and a deeply informed understanding of what is needed to protect our country. 

2018 Index of Military Strength Land Domain by The Heritage Foundation on Scribd