Visiting the First East Coast CMV-22B Squadron: October 2024

11/19/2024 By Robbin Laird I had a chance to visit Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron (VRM) 40 the “Mighty Bison” on Oct. 29, 2024. Earlier, I visited West Coast squadrons at North Island, San Diego, but this was my first opportunity to visit the squadron at Naval Station Norfolk. This squadron will play a key role in helping the U.S. Navy to operate… Read more »

Finland at Euronaval 2024: Finnish Defense Industry in the New Strategic Environment

11/15/2024 By Robbin Laird I attended the Euronaval exposition held in Paris the week of November 3, 2024. I had a chance to visit the Finnish booth at the show and watch the launch of their report on Finnish technologies in the Baltic Sea presented to the show. And then I had the opportunity to talk with Tuija Karanko, the Secretary… Read more »

Insights from Euronaval 2024: Cutting Edge Capabilities for Maritime Forces

11/14/2024 By Pierre Tran Paris - Companies around the world have noted the significance of the uncrewed surface vehicle (USV), or sea drone, as could be seen at Euronaval, an international trade show for every kind of military vessel and maritime kit, which ran Nov. 4-7. The market potential for the USV stemmed from Ukraine’s necessity proving to be a near… Read more »

Leveraging Training to Shape Payload Innovations

11/10/2024 By Robbin Laird In writing our book on the maritime kill web, a key point we emphasized was that payload innovation was a key driver to enhanced and viable combat capability. Rather than focusing force design on next generation platforms, a key focus now was to focus on rapid insertion of payloads and their innovation to create the desired combat… Read more »

Trump’s Win and the Implications for Australia’s Defence and Security Landscape

11/09/2024 By John Blaxland There’s an understandable inclination at first blush to see the U.S. presidential election outcome as auguring difficult times ahead on the global stage. President elect Donald Trump’s iconoclastic rhetoric on Ukraine, Gaza, Taiwan, tariffs and more in the lead-up to the election, coupled with his transactional approach to business, alliances and international institutions, and of making America… Read more »

Data Behind the Trump 2024 Victory: Political Re-alignment in America

11/08/2024 By Robbin Laird In 2015, I wrote an article asking the question of what era in American politics did the 2016 election remind me of? I answered in part that perhaps the 1890s and the collapse of the main stream parties and their re-alignment was the best analogy. The force for change were the various progressive movements, although what passes… Read more »