The Importance of Integration and Ownership in the Joint Fight: A Conversation with LtCol Barron at MAWTS-1

11/20/2023
By Robbin Laird From my first visit to MAWTS-1 with Ed Timperlake to MAWTS-1 to my most recent visit in November 2023, I have been impressed with how focused the team is upon force integration which can be created with real forces, not power points or by wargames or what…

The Way Ahead for Maritime Autonomous Systems

11/10/2023
By Robbin Laird In November 2023, I sat down with George Galdorisi to discuss the way ahead for maritime autonomous systems. He started by looking at where we are currently with autonomous systems more generally. He noted that we have seen significant progress with air and ground unmanned systems over…

Digital Talon: Demonstrating New Capabilities Delivered by a UAS

11/06/2023
Recently, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command’s Task Force 59 demonstrated a new mission capability which a UAS can deliver for the fleet. As J.P. Lawrence wrote in a 3 November 2023 article published in Stars and Stripes: "The 5th Fleet has used drone boats extensively in the Middle East for…

The Launch of MAWTS-1: Shaping an Integrated Air-Enabled Force

11/04/2023
By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake We started our series of interviews of the founders of MAWTS-1 with Randy Brinkley, call sign “Dragon.” He was the fourth commander of MAWTS-1. As Dragon explained it: “Howard DeCastro was the first commander of MAWTS-1, followed by Bobby Butcher who become a Major…

Triton in the Reshaping of the Australian ISR-T Enterprise

10/25/2023
During my recent visit to Australia in support of the 27 September Sir Richard Williams Foundation, I had a chance to meet again with Wing Commander Keirin Joyce and to discuss the impact of the Triton on the ISR-T enterprise in Australia. Wing Commander Keirin Joyce has dealt with uncrewed…

NATO Flight Training Europe (NFTE) High Visibility Project

10/13/2023
According to a 12 October 2023 NATO Press Release: Two initiatives were signed in the margins of the NATO Defence Ministers’ meeting this week (11-12 October 2023), demonstrating Allies’ commitment to work together to strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defence in the air domain. On Wednesday (11 October 2023), Germany and…

C2 Robotics and Crafting New Undersea Operational Capabilities for Defence and Security

10/11/2023
By Robbin Laird During my current visit to Australia in support of the 27 September 2023 Willliams Foundation seminar, I have taken the opportunity to continue my discussions on the coming of maritime autonomous systems to the Australian forces. First, I was able to talk with CDRE Darron Kavanagh, Director…

The Danes Build the Next Generation Modular Ship: The “Mothership” and “Payload Centric Platform Modularity”

10/07/2023
By Robbin Laird During my visit to the DSEI conference in London In September 2023, I spent a significant part of my time looking at a real revolution in ship building, maritime automated systems, and the payload revolution underlying the kill web. I did this in large part by the…