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The US Logistics Systems: Are We Ready for Full-Spectrum Crisis Operations?

06/12/2019By Robbin Laird Recently, the Williams Foundation held a seminar, which addressed the core question: how sustainable was the Australian Defence Force if it faced a major regional crisis? The challenge is rooted in part that the forces of the liberal democracies, which have participated in the Middle Eastern land wars, have shaped a Middle Eastern mindset with regard to… Read more »

France Arms Its Reapers

06/06/2019By Pierre Tran Paris - France is due in November to arm its Reaper medium-altitude, long-endurance drone with the GBU-12 smart bomb, with the Hellfire missile to be fitted next year, a defense source said. The French Air Force arms the Mirage 2000 fighter jet with the GBU-12, said the source, adding, “The next step is the Hellfire at the end of… Read more »

The Evolving Dynamic Missile Threat: A European Response

06/04/2019By Pierre Tran Paris - Western allies face the threat of a wide range of Chinese and Russian ballistic missiles and cruise weapons, while North Korea and Iran look to their missile capability to back up claims to regional power. The nature of the development of Chinese and Russian missile capacity is seen by some in European industry as threatening… Read more »

Calouste Gulbenkian: “The Art of the Deal”

06/03/2019By Kenneth Maxwell Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (1869-1955) was known during his lifetime as "Mr. Five Per Cent.” This was after his personal share of Middle East oil. He has remained a very elusive historical individual, a spider at the heart of a veritable global web, an oilman and financier, who became the world’s richest man. Few escaped the consequences of… Read more »

Denmark, Greenland and the F-35

05/30/2019The Russians have expanded the perimeter of their defense capabilities in the Arctic and in so doing have raised concerns from the other Arctic powers. This is clearly a core concern for the Nordics and an important input to their defense modernization efforts, nationally and collectively. And certainly, the Nordic members of NATO are focused on enhanced NATO capabilities to… Read more »

Shaping C2 for a Degraded Operational Environment: The Role of GATR

05/30/2019By Robbin Laird With the central role which crisis management will play for the US and its allies, a key area of change is in the area of C2. Distributed operations which will be an essential part of the strategic shift will require distributed C2. And C2 will have to operate in degraded operations environments. A tested technology which can… Read more »

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The Strategic Shift and the Reset for Australian Defence and Security

04/26/2019The latest Williams Seminar held in Canberra on April 11, 2019 focused on the strategic shift for Australia within the context of the evolving global situation. Facing the rising challenges posed by the 21stcentury authoritarian states, and by the changing nature of alliances in the Pacific and in Europe, Australia needs to enhance its sovereign… Download PDF Now »