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CASI Quarterly update #2 for 2026

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CASI Quarterly update
#2 for 2026


Friends of CASI,
            Yet another amazing CASI Conference is in the books!  We had over 250 people participate this year.  We had a panel on the PLA’s four “Forces”- Aerospace, Cyberspace, Information Support, and Joint Logistics Support Forces.  We had the inaugural presentation from the CASI Fellows this year, one on Chinese perceptions of Stealth, and one on PLA theory and practice of Suppression of Enemy Air Defense, they were both fantastic.   We followed that with a great panel on the Chinese aerospace industrial base, highlighting just how fast they are developing capabilities.  We heard about Chinese Kill Webs, in advance of a paper on that topic later this year.  And, as always, we held our Allies and Partners panel.  I have to say, the A&P panel is always top notch, and this year was no different.  Our allies did not hold back on giving the good, the bad, and the ugly, when it comes to issues in the Indo-Pacific.  And finally, we launched our series of “Useful Fiction” with a discussion of SHOCK WAVE, depicting a (obviously fictional) future PLA memo outlining how U.S. hypersonic weapons impact PLA operational plans- but also ensuring we realize, if we want that outcome, we have a lot of work to do today to make sure we get there.  It was terrific.  All of the conference papers will be published over the course of the next several months, so keep an eye on the CASI website for all the terrific research backing up the great presentations.  See you next year at CMSI.

 

CASI’s Fundamentals of the PLA Course:

We continue to have great interest in, and turn out for, our three-day PLA Fundamentals Course.  This quarter we held a course at NDU, and conducted a Mobile Education Team (MET) visit to Peterson SFB.

The next NDU in-house PLA Fundamentals course will be 1-3 Sep, 2026.  If you are interested in attending, please sign up at: https://tinyurl.com/CASI-PLA-Fundamentals

If you are interested in hosting a Mobile Education Team (MET) version of the PLA Fundamentals course, let us know and we will do our best to find open space on the calendar to support your organization.  Please be aware that due to high demand, we are currently booked out through August, so we are already looking at late 2026 and early 2027 dates for our next availability. The PLA Fundamentals course is free to attend (TDY costs only if traveling to NDU or TDY costs for the three CASI SMEs traveling to your location for the MET version) and open to all DoD and U.S. government employees, Allies, as well as civilian contractors working for the DoD.  There is no security clearance requirement.    

 

China Centers- And check out what great work the other China Centers are doing:

            China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI)

            China Landpower Studies Center (CLSC)

 

Recent Publications

            As is our custom, along with the CASI Conference, we released the 5th version of our PLA Primer at the conference:

            PLA Aerospace Power: A Primer on Trends in China’s Military Air, Space, and Missile Forces 5th Edition

 

(ITOW- In Their Own Words, TFTC- Thoughts from the Chairman)

  1.  In China’s View Of The New U.S. National Security Strategy, Continuity Outweighs Change
  2. “The PLA Is Intended to Fight and Win Wars”, China Military Studies Review, Marine Corps University Press
  3. Early PRC Media Responses to the Boeing F-47
  4. TFTC: Cultivating the Next Generation
  5. ITOW: Legal Warfare
  6. Remembering Tiananmen 37 Years Later: A Case Study in Chinese Communist Party Narrative Control
  7. Tiananmen Square: The Declassified History - w/ postscript 2026
  8. Chinese Perceptions of Stealth
  9. Shockwave- Useful Fiction for hypersonics
  10. China’s SEAD Tactics & Doctrine
  11. TFTC: The Next Battlefield is Within
  12. 9th Aviation Brigade Likely Validates Manned-Unmanned Teaming Combat Methods

 

CASI is pleased to offer hard copies of CASI full reports for free.  Please see our website at: https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/CASI/CASI-Publications/ 
for the full list and for the order form.  Please note- most of the articles and short reports are available in PDF only.


Support to the Warfighter

  1. Guest speaker at NGA’s Language, Region, and Culture professional development series
  2. Guest speaker at 16AF professional development forum
  3. Full-day speaking engagement for 31 Air Task Force, Hurlburt Field
  4. Guest lecturer to 57th Space Aggressor Squadron
  5. Provided presentation for NSIC, ODNI, and DIA
  6. Provided presentation for SF/S2 analysts
  7. Provided presentation for USMC
  8. Guest speaker for ACC/SG Spring Conference 2026
  9. Guest speaker for multiple briefs to the 66ABG at Hanscom AFB
  10. Guest speaker for the 56 MXG
  11. Guest speaker for the Yokota Professional Development Center
  12. Guest speaker for AFLCMC RSO
  13. Guest speaker for AFOSI/PJ
  14. Supported AFLCMC on differences between the CCP’s messaging to a Chinese versus a foreign audience.
  15. Delivered AFD 35 Red Team keynote and participated in a war game that utilized CASI research as Red Team Lead.
  16. Assisted Army Cyber Officer regarding China’s manufacturing capabilities and the competition with the US.
  17. National Defense University’s Best Scholar Paper for Academic Year 2026 cited CASI research.
  18. Guest speaker at RAF XXIV Sqn
  19. Keynote speaker at SpaceCom TTX
  20. Participated in PACAF’s Asian Tactics Analysis Team

 

Education

  1. Guest lecture for 2 iterations at Vosler NCO Academy
  2. Guest lecture to ACSC and AWC students as part of LeMay Center’s Strategic Competition lecture series
  3. Guest speaker to multiple base-wide and student audiences at Goodfellow AFB
  4. Guest lecture for 2 iterations at Air Component Senior Leader Course (ACSLC), Hurlburt Field
  5. Guest lecture at multiple iterations of Pre-Command Team Training (PCTT) course, Maxwell AFB 
  6. Supported Wargame for US Space Force ILE and SLE
  7. Guest lecturer for 2 iterations of the Civilian Warfighter Support Course
  8. Guest lecturer for 2 iterations of the Joint Air Operations Planning Course
  9. Guest lecturer for 2 iterations of the Contingency Wartime Planning Course
  10. Guest lecturer for 3 iterations of the Supervisor as a Leader Course
  11. Guest lecturer for Gaylor NCOA
  12. Guest lecturer for 2 iterations of the Professional Financial Management Course
  13. Guest lecturer for Sheppard NCOA
  14. Guest lecturer for 2 iterations of the First Sergeant Academy
  15. Guest lecturer for 2 iterations of the Basic Chaplain Course
  16. Guest lecturer for 2 iterations of Squadron Officer School
  17. Guest lecturer for 2 iterations of the Chief Leadership Academy
  18. Guest lecturer for the Joint Air Force Warfighting and Planning Course
  19. Guest lecturer for the Senior NCO Academy
  20. Guest lecturer for the Defense Financial Management Course
  21. Guest lecturer for the Eglin AFB Strategic Leadership Course
  22. Guest lecturer for Mathies NCOA
  23. Guest lecturer for AFROTC Field Training MAX 1 and MAX 2
  24. Guest lecturer for the Air Reserve Component Seminar
  25. Guest lecturer for the AFWI/DTRA/NSERC Cadet Internship
  26. Guest lecturer for the ACC Sword Forge course

 

 Engagement and Outreach
     In addition to providing support to the Department of the Air Force staff, CASI has had another busy quarter supporting the USAF and the DoD, as well as our allies, partners, and friends. CASI:

  1. Provided presentation to the National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA)
  2. Provided presentation for State Department space policy group
  3. Provided presentation Commerce Department Commercial Space Office
  4. Provided presentation for Joint Space Team
  5. Provided presentation for Pentagon Office of Space Policy
  6. Engaged with Institute for Defense Analysis, Science and Technology Policy Institute space researchers
  7. Featured in Aviation Week article
  8. Dr. Brendan Mulvaney was featured on The Defense & Aerospace Air Power Podcast [May 28, 26] Season 4 E18: Pacing Threat
  9. Participated in panel discussion of US-China competition over space resources sponsored by Helium-3 Mining.
  10. Engaged with foreign partners at the Air University International Honor Roll Expo
  11. Featured in Task & Purpose’s video “What China Thinks of America’s F-47 Fighter”
  12. Provided presentation at the Canon Institute for Global Studies
  13. Provided presentations at the Air Command and Staff College of the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force
  14. Met with Air University on military challenges Taiwan faces and future research collaborations.
  15. Met with multiple leaders at MERICS
  16. Met with Atlanta Council on International Relations Chairman of the Board Robert Kennedy
  17. Attended CNAS 2026 National Security Conference

 

Keep in contact with us:
CASI website www.airuniversity.af.mil/CASI/
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/CASI_Research
Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/CASI.Research.Org
Link with us on LinkedIn:  www.linkedin.com/company/china-aerospace-studies-institute

 

As always, please feel free to send this update, or our website/ contact information, to anyone you feel might be interested in CASI or our research. Let us know if you have any thoughts, requests for support, or ideas for future papers and projects.

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