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President Macron’s Economist Interview: Reactions and Implications

12/09/2019In the United States, we have tweeting Trump and the impeaching House of Representatives; in Europe they have Macronite. We have had and continue to have a significant deluge of comments on President Trump and his approach to foreign policy with little that has a positive tinge to it; but what about Macronite? How positive or significant is this for… Read more »

Remembering Finnish Independence Day: December 6

12/08/2019We want to remember our Finnish allies and their day of independence. And that allows a chance to remember that most remarkable of Finns, C.G.E. Mannerheim. In an article by Timo Vihavainen, a Finnish historian and professor emeritus of Russian Studies at the University of Helsinki, first published in February 2005, updated June 2017, the career of Mannerheim was reviewed. C.G.E. Mannerheim (1867–1951)… Read more »

Remembering Pearl Harbor in 2019: Anticipating Tactical and Strategic Surprise

12/07/2019By Robbin Laird One way to remember December 7, 1941 is to go back to the actual day and recall the events. December 7, 1941 dawned an ordinary Sunday for now-retired Lt. James "Jim" Downing and hearing his recount of the day is a very important way to remember the Day of Infamy. Remembering Pearl Harbor from SldInfo.com on Vimeo.… Read more »

International Fighter Conference, 2018 and 2019: Fighters in the New Strategic Context

12/06/2019It’s clear that combat capabilities and operations are being recrafted across the globe and, as operational contexts change, the evolution of the role of fighters is at the center of that shift. The 2018 International Fighter Conference held in Berlin provided a chance to focus on the role of fighters in the strategic shift from land wars to higher intensity… Read more »

RAAF’s P-8 Completes Initial Deployment to the Middle East

12/06/2019By Andrew McLaughlin The deployment of an RAAF P-8A Poseidon maritime ISR aircraft to the Middle East has concluded. The aircraft was deployed under the International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC) in September in response to the June shoot-down of a US Navy RQ-4A Global Hawk UAS by Iran, and subsequent Iranian attacks on commercial shipping near the Straits of Hormuz.… Read more »

The F-35, CNI Evolution, and Evolving the Combat Force

12/04/2019By Robbin Laird The F-35 is termed a fifth-generation platform, but is better understood as a first generation flying combat system. Or a next generation capability or foundation for building a C2/ISR infrastructure for the integrated distributed force. Because the F-35 is being stood up worldwide with both the U.S. Services and multiple core allies, how the F-35 global enterprise… Read more »

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International Fighter Conference 2019: Special Report

12/05/2019Last year’s International Fighter Conference provided a chance for the participants and the attendees to focus on the role of fighters in what we have been calling the strategic shift, namely, the shift from the land wars to operating in higher intensity operations against peer competitors. It is clear that combat capabilities and operations are being… Download PDF Now »

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Finland Participates in NATO Cyber Coalition 2019 Exercise

12/07/2019In an article published by the Finnish Ministry of Defence on December 5, 2019, the engagement of Finland in the NATO Cyber Coalition 2019 Exercise was highlighted. Finland participated as… Read more »

The Royal Australian Navy’s Amphibious Force at Full Strength

12/06/2019By Lieutenant Rilana Ostheim The Royal Australian Navy is now one of the world’s premier amphibious forces after the fleet’s two Canberra-class landing helicopter docks (LHDs) and landing craft achieved… Read more »

Are Eurofighter and Rafale Modernization Paths Crossing Cutting or Parallel?: Perspectives from the International Fighter Conference 2019

12/03/2019By Robbin Laird We had three different sets of presentations throughout the International Fighter Conference 2019 which discussed how the capabilities of the French, German and Eurofighter operating forces in.… Read more »