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04/24/2025
By Robbin Laird In my forthcoming book on the paradigm shift in maritime operations, I focus on the importance of pairing distributed capital ship operations with the capabilities that air vehicles and autonomous systems can provide to deliver maritime effects in a contested environment. To achieve competitive overmatch in the air, performance characteristics like range, speed, and payload capacity is… Read more »
04/22/2025
By Robbin Laird At the recent Sea-Air-Space Conference held in National Harbor, Maryland, Textron Aviation Defense was featuring its offering for the Navy’s Undergraduate Jet Training System. The Navy seeks to replace the aging T-45 Goshawk — with the candidates being the multi-engine Textron Aviation Defense-Leonardo-M-346N, the single-engine Boeing-Saab T-7 and the single-engine Lockheed Martin-KAI T-50. I am familiar with… Read more »
04/21/2025
I met with Asaf Punis, VP of Marketing and Business Development of Orbit at during the 2025 Navy League meetings held the first week of April 2025. I was especially interested in talking with him because of my interest in C2 enabling a distributed kill web force. With the coming of maritime autonomous systems which can deliver mesh fleets to… Read more »
04/20/2025
U.S. Marine Corps UH-1Y Venom and AH-1Z Viper pilots assigned to Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One (MAWTS-1), are seen in the photo slide show below at the Weapons and Tactics Instructor course 2-25 at Mesquite, California, April 14, 2025. WTI is a seven-week training event hosted by MAWTS-1 which emphasizes operational integration of the six functions of Marine… Read more »
04/17/2025
By Robbin Laird I had a chance to talk with Chris Morton during the 2025 Navy League meetings held the first week of April 2025. Morton is the Aerospace and Defence Global Industry Director at IFS which is an enterprise software company. We discussed the arrival of maritime autonomous systems and their impact on capital ship navies. Morton noted that… Read more »
04/16/2025
By Robbin Laird Recently the Commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command presented testimony before the Congress. In this piece, I will deconstruct that testimony to highlight key elements for shaping a way ahead in the near to mid-term. Not only is this necessary to focus on what the force needs now, but redesigning the force along these lines will not… Read more »
10/07/2024
On September 26, 2024, the most recent seminar of The Sir Richard Williams Foundation was held. It was entitled: “Enhancing and Accelerating the Integrated Force: An Operational Perspective.” This seminar focused on how the force in being or the ready force was focused on improving its capability, its survivability and lethality for the fight tonight.… Download PDF Now »
04/14/2025
By Robbin Laird The war in Ukraine has brought the nuclear question back again as a central topic in European security. And now the Trump Administration with its focus on… Read more »
04/09/2025
By Lt. General (Retired) David Deptula Leadership is more than a title — it is a calling. Few have answered that call with the depth of dedication, intellect, and vision… Read more »
04/03/2025
By CAPT (Ret) Christoper C. Misner, Senior Manager, Bell Strategic Pursuits The U.S. National Defense Strategy prioritizes the Indo-Pacific as a critical theater for national security. Yet, the current U.S. Navy… Read more »
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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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,… Read more »
04/25/2025
Airmen participating in Exercise Pitch Black 2024 in Australia concluded operations Aug. 2, 2024, marking the end of the largest iteration of the Royal Australian Air Force’s biennial capstone exercise.…
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04/23/2025
U.S. Marines with I Marine Expeditionary Force have conducted a multitude of exercises and operations across the Indo-Pacific throughout 2024. I MEF provides the Marine Corps a globally responsive, expeditionary,…
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04/21/2025
A time-lapse of the sunrise with the U.S. Air Force C-5M Super Galaxies parked on the flight line at Travis Air Force Base in California Dec. 30, 2024. The C-5M…
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04/18/2025
The world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), sails in formation with the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) Kashima-class training ship, JS Kashima (TV-3508), front and…
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04/16/2025
F-35A Lightning II aircraft from the 354th Fighter Wing participate in exercise Arctic Gold 25-1 on Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. 10.07.2024 Video by Travis Minyon F-35 Joint Program Office
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04/14/2025
The 33rd Fighter Wing conducted an Agile Combat Employment exercise at Ebbing Air National Guard Base, Arkansas, Sept. 9 – 20, 2024. The purpose of the exercise was to demonstrate…
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04/11/2025
The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group is underway in the Atlantic Ocean completing integrated naval warfighting training. Composite Unit Training Exercises are an intense, multi-week exercise designed to fully…
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03/04/2025
The Department of the Air Force faces a crisis. Decades’ worth of insufficient budgets has slowed essential modernization, necessary capacity and key personnel investments. Air Force and Space Force leaders… Read more »