SLD Special Reports

Shaping a Porcupine Defense Strategy for the Philippines: The Role of Maritime Autonomous Systems

08/04/2025 This report analyzes the Philippines’ “porcupine defense strategy,” emphasizing its reliance on maritime autonomous systems (MAS) and distributed lethality to deter aggression in the South China Sea. It highlights the Taiwan-Philippines-Japan strategic triangle and the critical importance of the First Island Chain and Luzon Strait for regional security and global trade. The report details how U.S.-Philippines military cooperation, including fast boat bases and the deployment of unmanned surface vessels (USVs), is… Download PDF Now »
Whats New

The New Global Power Equation: A Special Report Based on the Work of Pasquale Preziosa

08/15/2025 The world’s power structures are undergoing their most profound transformation since the end of the Cold War. From the laboratories developing artificial intelligence to the missile ranges testing hypersonic weapons,… Read more »

Rethinking Military Training for the High-End Fight: From Kill Chains to Kill Webs

08/14/2025 By Robbin Laird In 2021, my book entitled Training for the High-End Fight: The Strategic Shift of the 2020s was published. I am starting a series of article re-engaging on… Read more »

How Australia’s Port Development Threatens Its Nuclear Submarine Future

08/13/2025 Australia’s ambitious leap into nuclear submarine warfare through the AUKUS partnership represents one of the most significant strategic pivots in the nation’s defense history. But a seemingly unrelated infrastructure project… Read more »

Empowering the “Fight Tonight” Force: The Osprey Advantage

08/12/2025 By Robbin Laird In an interview I did in Norfolk last year with Commander Mason Fox and his team. Fox is the Commander of Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron (VRM) 40,… Read more »

China’s Commodity Diplomacy: The Strategic Courting of Brazil and Australia

08/11/2025 In an era of intensifying major power competition, China’s diplomatic engagement with commodity-rich nations has emerged as a cornerstone of its global strategy. The contrasting yet complementary approaches Beijing has… Read more »

The Parallel Resurrections: Trump and Lula’s Unlikely Mirror

08/10/2025 In the turbulent landscape of contemporary global politics, few phenomena are as rare or as psychologically compelling as the successful comeback after political disgrace. Yet our current historical moment has… Read more »
In Briefs

The King Stallion Operating at Sea

08/20/2025 A U.S. Marine Corps CH-53K King Stallion attached to Marine Heavy Squadron (HMH) 461 lifts off the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), during Composite Training Unit… Read more »

USS Gerald R. Ford Conducting Flight Operations

08/18/2025 Sailors assigned to Air Department aboard the world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), guide an F/A-18E Super Hornet attached to Strike Fighter Squadron 213 on the… Read more »

C-130J Operations in REFORPAC 2025

08/15/2025 A U.S. Air Force C-130J Super Hercules offloads cargo in support of exercise Resolute Force Pacific 2025 at Misawa Air Base, Japan, July 10, 2025. By linking bases across the… Read more »

HMX-1 During COMPTUEX

08/13/2025 A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey with Marine Helicopter Squadron 1 prepares to land during landing drills aboard the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7), during 22nd… Read more »

VRM-40 Change of Command

08/12/2025 A change of command ceremony for VRM-40, the “Mighty Bison” squadron, took place on July 31, 2025 at Naval Station Norfolk, where Cmdr. Brett H. Learner relieved Cmdr. Mason B. Fox as commanding officer. The ceremony marked the… Read more »

Ospreys Operating from Joint Base Cape Cod

08/11/2025 U.S. Marines with Marine Wing Support Squadron 471, Marine Aircraft Group 41, 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, provide maintenance and fuel to an MV-22B Osprey assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron… Read more »

Lightning Strikes Home

08/08/2025 The first F-35A Lightning II aircraft permanently assigned to the Florida Air National Guard’s 125th Fighter Wing taxi on the flight line after landing at Jacksonville Air National Guard Base,… Read more »
SLD BOOKSHOP

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Video of the Month

The King Stallion in Inter-Agency Duty

08/08/2025 U.S. Marines with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 461, Marine Aircraft Group 29, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW), and 2nd Distribution Support Battalion (DSB), Combat Logistics Group 2, 2nd Marine… Read more »
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