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21st Century Authoritarians Carve Up Syria

10/15/2019By Robbin Laird Syria is being controlled by Russia and Turkey, two elements of the rise of 21st century authoritarianism. While the EU discusses and while the United States retreats or whatever it is doing, Turkey and Russia are shaping the territory from which the migration crisis is holding Europe at risk. And let us be clear -- Erdogan is… Read more »

Looking Back at the COIN-Oriented US Military Transformation

10/15/2019By Robbin Laird In my lifetime, the U.S. military has gone through three major phases of development. The first was the shaping of the force in the 1980s to deal with the Soviet threat to Europe and encompassed air-land battle. Hardwired networking was introduced and working ways to integrate forces more effectively was the hallmark of this effort. And the… Read more »

The Australian Approach to Developing and Deploying Remotes Systems in the Maritime Environment: The Perspective of Cmdr. Paul Hornsby

10/12/2019By Robbin Laird Recently, I attended the Chief of the Royal Australian Navy’s Seapower conference being held in Sydney from October 8th through the 10th, 2019. One of the sessions which I attended was a presentation by Cmdr. Paul Hornsby, Royal Australian Navy lead on autonomous warfare systems. The presentation provided an overview on how the Australian Navy is addressing… Read more »

Shaping an Enhanced Japanese-Australian Military Alliance: The First Joint Air Exercise

10/12/2019With Exercise Bushido Guardian, the Royal Australian Air Force has conducted its first joint air exercise with the Japanese. The exercise is part of the expanded working relationship in defense agreed upon in 2017. The opening of the exercise was highlighted in an article by Corporal Vevornica O'Hara published on 25 September 2019 The Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal … Read more »

The Requirements of Fifth Generation Manoeuvre: October 24, 2019 Williams Foundation Seminar

10/11/2019On October 24, 2019, the Williams Foundation will host its next seminar on building an integrated fifth generation force. This seminar will be held in the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra from 0800 through 1530. Since 2013 the Sir Richard Williams Foundation seminars have focused on building an integrated fifth generation force. Recent seminars have evolved from the acquisition… Read more »

The First Rafale Transferred to the Indian Air Force: October 8, 2019

10/08/2019By Pierre Tran Paris - Dassault Aviation played the host for an Oct. 8 ceremony for hand over of the first Rafale fighter jet to India, signaling a close military and industrial tie France seeks to deepen amidst stiff competition from Israel, Russia and the U.S. The presence of Indian defense minister Rajnath Singh and his French counterpart, Florence Parly,… Read more »

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Fifth-Generation Enabled Military Transformation: Australia, the UK and Shaping a Way Ahead

06/13/2019Australia and the UK are located in very different parts of the world. But both face significant challenges from a regional power with global reach. And both are reshaping their militaries to face the strategic shift from the land wars to full spectrum crisis management. Each has a different trajectory but through the common acquisition… Download PDF Now »

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Operation Rapid Forge: Highlighting the Challenge To Shape a Sustainment Capability to Enable an Integrated Distributed Force.

10/14/2019By Robbin Laird To deal with the challenge posed by the 21st century authoritarian powers, the United States military and its allies are rebuilding their combat approach. The strategic trajectory… Read more »