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09/22/2025
By Robbin Laird The nature of warfare is fundamentally unchanged — it remains a contest of political will between adversaries. However, the character of how wars are fought has transformed dramatically. In an era where conflicts can be decided before the first missile is fired or the first shot is taken, military forces worldwide are grappling with a critical challenge:… Read more »
09/21/2025
By Robbin Laird The nature of military transformation has fundamentally changed. Where once armed forces could afford to develop new platforms over decades and then figure out how to use them, today's security environment demands a completely different approach. This shift represents perhaps the most significant change in military thinking since the advent of combined arms warfare itself. In a… Read more »
09/18/2025
By Robbin Laird On September 18, 2025, the Sir Richard Williams Foundation held its 2nd seminar for the year which was entitled: "Fight Tonight: Combat Readiness at the Speed of Relevance." I will highlight the presentations at the conference in a series of articles over the next few weeks. I will conclude the series with an article providing my perceptions… Read more »
09/17/2025
By Robbin Laird The comfortable certainties of the post-Cold War era are dissolving. For Australia, this transformation presents both unprecedented challenges and opportunities to reshape its role as a strategic actor in the Indo-Pacific. Australia is moving from alliance dependence toward more strategic independence while deepening operational integration with trusted partners. The traditional model of alliance partnership, where Australia provided… Read more »
09/17/2025
Brazil stands at a critical juncture that will determine whether it emerges as a strategic power or remains trapped as a raw material supplier in China's sphere of influence. While President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's administration pursues deeper integration with Beijing through initiatives like BRICS expansion and transcontinental infrastructure projects, this path threatens to foreclose the very opportunities that… Read more »
09/15/2025
By Robbin Laird My friend and colleague Erik Hoffmann and I worked extensively on analyzing the efforts to change the Soviet system under the pressures of the technological revolution of the 1970s and 1980s. This was when Brzezinski published his book on the technotronic age and described the challenges a Soviet autocratic system faced to try to modernize. The Soviet… Read more »
08/27/2025
This report examines the evolution of U.S. hypersonic weapons development from the Bush administration through 2025, tracing how technological promise repeatedly encountered bureaucratic obstacles and shifting strategic priorities. The report argues that after decades of delays caused by focus on counterinsurgency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, American hypersonic programs have finally reached operational readiness, with… Download PDF Now »
09/14/2025
By Pasquale Preziosa In recent months, Russia has radically transformed the way it uses drones, making these low-cost tools a pillar of its strategy. What appeared at the beginning of… Read more »
09/12/2025
History rarely repeats itself exactly, but it often rhymes with haunting resonance. The international coalitions that formed around the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939 and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine… Read more »
09/10/2025
In the early hours of a spring morning in 2024, a beaten-up Soviet-era propeller plane taxied to a halt on a rural Ukrainian runway. Two unlikely warriors emerged from the… Read more »
09/08/2025
By Pierre Tran Paris – The Chinese navy was large, growing fast, and led by a complex command structure which showed an aggressive approach in operations at sea, the navy… Read more »
09/05/2025
When Vladimir Putin launched his “special military operation” against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, he envisioned a swift victory that would restore Russia’s great power status. Instead, the invasion has… Read more »
09/01/2025
When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, few predicted that within two years, Chinese yuan would become the dominant foreign currency in Russian markets. Yet this… Read more »
09/22/2025
U.S. Air Force Airmen assigned to the 354th Fighter Wing paticipate in Bamboo Eagle 25-1 at Naval Air Station Lemoore, Calif. The 354th participated in Bamboo Eagle to improve the…
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09/10/2025
U.S. Marines with 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW) and 2nd Distribution Support Battalion (DSB) perform external lifts at U.S. Coast Guard base Sector Key West, Florida, July 28, 2025. Marines…
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09/08/2025
U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Fred Miller, from Nevada and a CH-53K King Stallion crew chief with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 461, looks out of a CH-53K near Naval…
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09/05/2025
U.S. Marines with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 461, Marine Aircraft Group 29, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, showcase a CH-53K King Stallion as part of Fleet Week New York 2025, at…
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09/03/2025
U.S. Marines with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 461 conduct simulated troop insertion operations with 2nd Battalion 23rd Marines at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California, Feb.…
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09/01/2025
U.S. Marines load air intercept missile ordnance and launch F-35B Lightning II aircraft assigned to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 242, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, during flight operations aboard the…
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08/29/2025
Task Force Warhawg, 1st Battalion, 360th Infantry Regiment, 5th Armored Brigade, incorporated counter-unmanned aerial systems training into Task Force Bataan, 1st Battalion, 200th Infantry Regiment’s culminating training exercise in preparation…
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09/01/2025
U.S. Marines with 2nd Distribution Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, and Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 461, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, execute external lifts at Naval Air Station Key… Read more »