European Defence Uptick: The View from the Defense Industries

04/01/2025 By Pierre Tran Paris - Two European arms companies, KNDS France and MBDA, recently pointed up their hefty investment to boost production of cannon shells, artillery, and missiles, indicating a willingness to anticipate orders, and their access to extensive funds. The willingness of those two privately held companies to invest in new plant and parts could be seen in contrast… Read more »

Restoring Grounded Discourse in an Anxious America: The Focus of the Invisible Threads Lab

03/29/2025 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake Journalist Kate Woodsome has been laser-focused on a key challenge facing democracy in the United States and, frankly, within liberal democracies more generally: the growing inability of social and political tribes to talk with one another. In fact, the impacts of the pandemic on younger generations have generated difficulties for individuals to be part… Read more »

The U.S. Navy and the “Hybrid Fleet”

03/26/2025 By George Galdorisi The U. S. Navy stands at the precipice of a new era of technology advancement. In an address at a military-industry conference, then-U.S. Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Michael Gilday, revealed the Navy’s goal to grow to 500 ships, to include 350 crewed ships and 150 uncrewed maritime vessels. This plan has been dubbed the “hybrid fleet.”… Read more »

Eric Béranger Provides an Update on MBDA and European Defence: March 2025

03/24/2025 By Pierre Tran Paris - MBDA was beating its own targets in building missiles in larger numbers and greater speed, at a time when the ties between Western allies were shifting, the chief executive of the European missile company said March 17. Eric Béranger said last year he had forecast there would be a 50 percent increase in production of the… Read more »

“A Long-term Rearmament Drive in Europe”: The Perspective from Nicolas Chamussy, CEO KNDS France

03/18/2025 By Pierre Tran Paris - KNDS has been much in the news, with the chief executive of the French unit floating the idea of a public-private partnership to boost arms production, and media reports of a possible stock market flotation of the Franco-German builder of land weapons. The chief executive of KNDS France, Nicolas Chamussy, sketched out March 12 to… Read more »

The Next Steps in Working Distributed Aviation Operations: 2nd MAW Works the Challenge

03/16/2025 By Robbin Laird When I interviewed the Commanding General of 2nd Marine Air Wing last summer, he underscored the importance for the Marines to craft a way ahead with regard to distributed air operations. This is how we discussed the issue at that time: We then discussed distributed air operations (DO) and how it differed from simply being a Forward… Read more »