The Kill Chain, Christian Brose
The Kill Chain, Christian Brose
2 Rating(s)
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The Kill Chain
Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare

Author: Christian Brose

Narrator: Christian Brose

Unabridged: 9 hr 44 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/21/2020


Synopsis

From a former senior advisor to Senator John McCain comes an urgent wake-up call about how new technologies are threatening America's military might.

For generations of Americans, our country has been the world's dominant military power. How the US military fights, and the systems and weapons that it fights with, have been uncontested. That old reality, however, is rapidly deteriorating. America's traditional sources of power are eroding amid the emergence of new technologies and the growing military threat posed by rivals such as China. America is at grave risk of losing a future war. As Christian Brose reveals in this urgent wake-up call, the future will be defined by artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and other emerging technologies that are revolutionizing global industries and are now poised to overturn the model of American defense. This fascinating, if disturbing, book confronts the existential risks on the horizon, charting a way for America's military to adapt and succeed with new thinking as well as new technology. America must build a battle network of systems that enables people to rapidly understand threats, make decisions, and take military actions, the process known as "the kill chain." Examining threats from China, Russia, and elsewhere, The Kill Chain offers hope and, ultimately, insights on how America can apply advanced technologies to prevent war, deter aggression, and maintain peace

Reviews

Goodreads review by Dennis on July 30, 2023

The Kill Chain: How Emerging Technologies Threaten America's Military Dominance by Christian Brose is a book I deeply appreciate, but find myself reluctant to fully agree with. The Kill Chain has a thesis: we are unprepared to fight the next war, with military budget allocations and the defense indu......more

Goodreads review by Madeline on April 24, 2020

The Kill Chain is a convincing wakeup call that the military-congressional-industrial complex is so broken that the very survival of America as Americans know it is at risk unless mammoth changes are made in how the Department of Defense defines, identifies, procures and deploys emerging technology,......more

Goodreads review by Kevin on January 12, 2022

Must Read Very well written. Vital to anyone wishing to understand why we spend on defense - and how defense dollars are allocated. Change we must.......more

Goodreads review by Douglas on May 24, 2024

A must read for anyone in the defense, national security, policy, and military -space. Prose - the former Senate Armed Service Committee Staff Director for the late Senator McCain and current Head of Strategy at Anduril Industries and Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace -......more

Goodreads review by Pbloom on December 07, 2020

This is an exceptionally important book. I thought I understood the issues but was both enlightened and disturbed by many of the examples cited by the author. I believe this book should be mandatory reading for anyone in the government/military who wants to challenge their own views about U.S. milit......more


Quotes

"The Kill Chain is a tour-de-force. Few people are as knowledgeable and experienced as Christian Brose in thinking about the intersection of emerging technology and national defense. He pulls it all together in this compelling, unsettling, and outstanding book."—Eric Schmidt, former Chairman of Alphabet and CEO and Chairman of Google

"Provocative, jolting, superb, and on target! The Kill Chain is all of those things and more. If you read only one book to better understand the challenges facing the US military and the promise of emerging technologies, this should be it."—Admiral James Stavridis, former Supreme Allied Commander at NATO and author of Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character

"Christian Brose has done the country a great service by writing this important and timely book. The Kill Chain is a powerful and thoughtful challenge to much of the conventional wisdom about national defense. It also offers a compelling vision for how the US military can get beyond business as usual to compete and win in this new era of great power competition. Brose's book should be read by every American."—Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR), author of Sacred Duty: A Soldier's Tour at Arlington National Cemetery

"The Kill Chain is an exceptional--and an exceptionally stimulating--guide to thinking about the military and technological revolutions that will produce a fundamental change to the character of war."—General David Petraeus (US Army, Ret.), former Commander of the Surge in Iraq, US Central Command, and Coalition Forces in Afghanistan, as well as former Director of the CIA

"Christian Brose understands like few others the serious challenges the U.S. military faces, especially in relation to China. He delivers a powerful wake-up call to the American people and our leadership--warning aptly that America's military superiority is at grave risk unless we reimagine defense. Thankfully, Brose issues a thoughtful and compelling plan for America to adapt effectively in this gripping, must-read book."—Susan E. Rice, former US National Security Advisor and Ambassador to the United Nations