An Update on European Drones: February 2024

02/16/2024
By Pierre Tran Paris - Airbus is taking more time to decide on the early stage of design for a European medium-altitude, long-endurance drone, with the industrial partners looking for a good fit with specifications, Guillaume Faury, chief executive of the aircraft builder, said Feb.15. “The preliminary design review (PDR)…

From the CH-46 to the MV-22B: A Generational Leap and the Learning Curve

02/10/2024
By Robbin Laird In my recent interview with LtGen Heckl, Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development Command, and the Deputy Commandant for Combat Development and Integration, we went back to his time as the second squadron commander to have taken the Osprey into combat. He was an experienced CH-46 pilot…

The French Parliamentary Hearing of François Michel, Chairman of John Cockerill, 31 January 2024

02/07/2024
By Pierre Tran Paris - It was thanks to information shared on a social media link of the Association of Defense Journalists, a press club, this correspondent suited up to attend the Jan. 31 French parliamentary hearing of François Michel, chairman of John Cockerill, a Belgian company which builds armed…

EU Aid to Ukraine: The End of the Hungarian Veto?

01/31/2024
By Pierre Tran Paris - There is confidence the European Union will find a way to beat Hungary’s blocking of a budget to provide €50 billion ($54 billion) of financial aid to Ukraine when the E.U. summit meets this week, a senior Ukrainian official said Jan. 30. “I am confident…

A Conversation With the 14th Commander of MAWTS-1: LtGen “Dog” Davis

01/28/2024
By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake In January 2024, we had a chance to do our final interview for our forthcoming MAWTS-1 book, namely with LtGen Davis. He was the CO of MAWTS-1 from 19 November 2004-7 July 2006 and had served as the XO for Col later MajGen Raymond…

The NATO-Russian Campaign in Ukraine: Next Steps in the European Conflict

01/27/2024
By Robbin Laird Sarah White published a thoughtful piece on Real Clear Defense on 10 January 2024. Currently, I am in Europe where the NATO-Russian campaign in Ukraine is ongoing. She made a core strategic point that the overall effects from the war have a direct impact on the European…

Lift Mobility and the Distributed Force: Distributed Laydown with Fewer Flights

01/17/2024
By Robbin Laird I ended the last article in this series with this question: What then might be the interaction between the CH-53K and lift mobility in the evolution of the distributed force? I am going to breakdown my answer to that question in several parts. In this article, I…