Areas of Expertise: Security Cooperation; Defense Industrial Base
Dr. Bryce Loidolt is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University. Prior to joining NDU, he was a Defense Analyst at the RAND Corporation. His current research focuses on security cooperation, defense industrial capacity, and wartime adaptation, including ongoing projects related to combat advising, munitions production and surge capacity, and technological measure-countermeasure competitions between adversary militaries.
Throughout his career, Dr. Loidolt has been detailed to provide analytic support to the Joint Staff, U.S. Special Operations Command, and conventional and special operations military commands abroad. He has conducted field research in Germany, Poland, Thailand, Afghanistan, Yemen, the Philippines, and the United Arab Emirates. He has also served on and led study teams supporting senior Department of War stakeholders, including the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Secretary of War.
Dr. Loidolt has been awarded the Joint Civilian Service Achievement Medal by the Joint Staff on three occasions in recognition of his contributions to the Department of War.
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Recent Publications
Bryce Loidolt, “The Politics of Purchases: Explaining the Resilient Demand for Chinese Arms,” Foreign Policy Analysis (forthcoming)
Bryce Loidolt, “The Pentagon Needs a Playbook for Munitions Surge Production,” War on the Rocks, May 7, 2026.
Bryce Loidolt, “Ukraine, the U.S. Defense Industrial Base, and the Elusive Crisis-Era Munitions Production Surge,” Joint Force Quarterly 119, October 2025.
Bryce Loidolt, “Lethal Targeting and Adaptation Failure in Terrorist Groups,” Security Studies 33, No. 2 (2024): 224-253.
Bryce Loidolt, “Were Drone Strikes Effective? Evaluating Lethal Targeting through Captured al-Qaeda Records,” Texas National Security Review 5. No. 2 (2022): 54-79.
Bryce Loidolt et al., “Rogues, Disrupters, and Spoilers in an Era of Great Power Competition,” in Tom Lynch ed., Strategic Assessment 2020: Into a New Era of Great Power Competition, (Washington, DC: NDU Press 2020).
Bryce Loidolt et al., “Competing Visions and Actions by China, Russia, and the United States in Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and the Arctic,” in Tom Lynch ed., Strategic Assessment 2020: Into a New Era of Great Power Competition, (Washington, DC: NDU Press 2020).
Bryce Loidolt and COL Ed Ballanco, “If We Want Security Force Assistance Missions to Succeed, Give Advisers Control of the Purse Strings,” Modern War Institute War Room, October 2018.