An essential introduction to modern defense policyThe U.S. military is one of the largest and most complex organizations in the world. How it spends its money, chooses tactics, and allocates its resources have enormous implications for national defense and the economy. The Science of War is the only comprehensive textbook on how to analyze and understand these and other essential problems in modern defense policy.Michael O'Hanlon provides undergraduate and graduate students with an accessible yet rigorous introduction to the subject. Drawing on a broad range of sources and his own considerable expertise as a defense analyst and teacher, he describes the analytic techniques the military uses in every crucial area of military science. O'Hanlon explains how the military budget works, how the military assesses and deploys new technology, develops strategy and fights wars, handles the logistics of stationing and moving troops and equipment around the world, and models and evaluates battlefield outcomes. His modeling techniques have been tested in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the methods he used to predict higher-than-anticipated troop fatalities in Iraq-controversial predictions that have since been vindicated.The Science of War is the definitive resource on warfare in the twenty-first century.

Acknowledgments viiIntroduction 1
Chapter I: Defense Budgeting and Resource Allocation 8
Chapter II: Modeling Combat and Sizing Forces 63
Chapter III: Logistics and Overseas Bases 141
Chapter IV: Technical Issues in Defense Analysis 169
Conclusion 243
Appendix: Figures and Tables 249
Index 263