SLDinfo.com - Second Line of Defense | Delivering Capability to the Warfighter

Australia’s Strategic Geography and the Defence of Australia: A Conversation with Dr. Andrew Carr

09/26/2022By Robbin Laird One of Brendan Sargeant’s legacy to me was introducing him to a young professor, Dr. Andrew Carr who works on defence issues and is well along in writing a book on the history of Australian defence. Given the enhanced focus on the direct defence of Australia being generated with the evolving strategic environment, I had a chance… Read more »

French 2021 Arms Exports: Analyzing the French Government Report

09/25/2022By Pierre Tran Paris - France delivered weapons to Russia worth a total €344.9 million ($339.2 million) between 2012 and 2020, with a peak of shipments worth €81.7 million in 2014, the 2022 government report to parliament on arms exports said. That high point of French deliveries in 2014 occurred in the year Russian forces seized the Crimean region in… Read more »

Shaping a Way Ahead for Maritime Autonomous Systems in the ADF: A Discussion with Commodore Darron Kavanagh

09/23/2022By Robbin Laird At first blush, some readers would expect a title that focused on maritime autonomous systems to focus primarily upon their role within the Royal Australian Navy, rather than looking at the role within the overall ADF. But because these systems are entering the force as it works its next phase of shaping joint operations, maritime autonomous systems… Read more »

Shaping a Way Ahead for Remotely Piloted Air Systems: The Perspective of Wing Commander Keirin Joyce

09/22/2022By Robbin Laird I have known Wing Commander Keirin Joyce for a number of years, and last spoke with him at length after he chaired last year’s Williams Foundation Seminar on Next Generation Autonomous Systems. During the seminar, he highlighted an example of how current forces can use new uncrewed technologies to support the evolving kill web, in which a… Read more »

Shaping a Way Ahead for the ADF: The Key Role of C2

09/21/2022By Robbin Laird Enhancing C2 capabilities for the ADF in the near to midterm is a critical part of being able to deliver the kind of defense capabilities which Australia needs for its renewed focus on direct defense of Australia. During my current visit to Australia, I had a chance to discuss this challenge with David Horton, Vice President at… Read more »

Where Does the CMV-22b Fit into U.S. Navy’s Evolving Concept of Operations?

09/19/2022A great place to go to approach ways to answer that question is to visit The Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center or NAWDC which is best known to the public as “Top Gun.” When I last visited NAWDC in 2020 which I did twice in that year, it was very clear from the visits and the discussions, that there was… Read more »

View All »

Shaping a Way Ahead for the Integrated Distributed Force

05/09/2022On March 24, 2022, the Williams Foundation held its first of two seminars to be held this year. The seminar was the latest in a series of seminars which started in 2014, and have been focused on the evolution of the ADF to deal with the evolving threats and challenges facing Australia, and its core… Download PDF Now »

View All »

Prioritizing the Direct Defense of Australia: Shaping a Way Ahead for the ADF?

09/15/2022By Robbin Laird In my discussion with Marcus Hellyer, he highlighted the importance for Australia to prioritize the direct defense of Australia for the future evolution of the ADF. This… Read more »

Facing the Challenge of Shaping a Way Ahead for Australian Defense: A Conversation with Marcus Hellyer

09/13/2022By Robbin Laird I have recently arrived back in Australia after my last visit in March 2020. The pandemic gap years are now over and I have come to Australia… Read more »

The German Defense Re-set: Implications for Shaping an Integrated Airlift Fleet

09/12/2022By Robbin Laird On February 27, 2022, the German Chancellor announced a major re-set of German defense and security policy. On that date, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged a €100… Read more »

Enhancing U.S. Navy Fleet Capabilities: Reshaping the Approach to Sustaining the Force

09/08/2022By Robbin Laird Recently, the U.S. navy’s CNO Gilday underscored that fleet numbers are limited by the relatively limited defense industrial capacity in the United States. A clear challenge is… Read more »

An Indian Perspective on the Role of Cruise Missiles in Australian Defence

09/07/2022By Debalina Ghoshal A number of developments call for Australia not only to reply on defensive means to defend itself, but also rely on offensive capabilities like cruise missiles as… Read more »

The CH-53K and the Software Upgrade Process

09/03/2022By Robbin Laird A key difference between legacy 20th century military platforms and 21st century platforms revolve around software upgradeability. With the legacy platforms, integration on the platform has been… Read more »

View All »

Combat Logistics Regiment 27

09/26/2022U.S. Marines with 2nd Landing Support Battalion (LSB), Combat Logistics Regiment (CLR) 27, and 2nd Transportation Battalion (TB), CLR-27, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, load equipment onto rail cars at Morehead… Read more »

RIMPAC 2022: MQ-9 Ops

09/23/2022An MQ-9 Reaper assigned to the 49th Wing at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., takes flight during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2022, July 25. Unmanned and remotely operated vessels… Read more »

Helocast Training

09/21/2022Members from the 21st Special Operations Squadron, Yokota Air Base, and 320th Special Tactics Squadron, Kadena Air Base, conducted Helocast training at Lake Ogawara near Misawa Air Base, Aug. 10… Read more »

Platinum Lion 22

09/19/2022NATO’s new multinational battlegroup in Bulgaria geared up during Platinum Lion 22, its biggest exercise yet. 03.08.2022 Natochannel Read more »

CMV-22B Conducting Air Delivered Ground Refueling (ADGR)

09/17/2022A MH-60S Knighthawk helicopter assigned to the “Black Knights” of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 4, stationed in San Diego, is refueled by a Navy CMV-22B Osprey from the “Titans”… Read more »

CMV-22B Lands on USS New York

09/16/2022The CMV-22B is being purchased by the U.S. Navy to replace the C-2A Greyhound. But unlike the Greyhound, the CMV-22B can land on a wide variety of platforms which then… Read more »

Combined-Force Amphibious Landing: RIMPAC 2022

09/16/2022Multiple partner nation forces including the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Australia and the U.S., conduct an amphibious beach landing during Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2022 at Marine Corps Base… Read more »

SLD BOOKSHOP

View All »

The Second Line of Defense team provides high quality publications with regard to key global strategic developments. You can purchase these here or on a number of booksellers as well, such as Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

View All »

HMH-461 Exercises External Lift with CH-53K

09/07/2022U.S. Marines with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 461 practice an external lift with a CH-53K King Stallion at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, Aug. 11, 2022. T his… Read more »