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Harvest the Best and Leave the Rest: The Land Wars and the Emergence of the Kill Web

06/05/2020The strategic shift from the land wars to full spectrum crisis management is a very significant change. Operating against adversary forces who have full spectrum capability requires building and training a force which can prevail in a wide variety of contested environments. We have argued that shaping interactive kill webs which allow for flexible task forces to be assembled to… Read more »

CVN-71 Returns to Sea

06/04/2020There is much uncertainty in life. COVID-19 proves that. When it comes to forecasting, it would great if all the seers of the future would pause to answer this question: How well did we do in forecasting 2020 from the perspective of 2019? But one certainty is that the press about the return to sea of CVN-71 will not receive… Read more »

The Evolving Amphibious Task Force: New Roles and New Capabilities?

06/04/2020By Robbin Laird With the return to the sea on which the USMC has been working with the US Navy over the past few years, the role of “amphibiosity” has been in evolution as well. The Bold Alligator Exercises started in 2011 and re-focused on the importance of the return to the sea,. The Second Line of Defense team attended… Read more »

Pacific Islands, Regional Cooperation and the Potential Role of Airpower

06/04/2020RAAF Air Commodore Stephen Edgeley spoke recently to the virtual RAAF Airpower Conference on the Indo-Pacific Region. Originally, the conference was to be held in March 2020, but was postponed due to COVID-19. But the RAAF’s Airpower Development Centre has moved ahead with a virtual conference, consisting of the core presentations which would have been given in person. In his presentation,… Read more »

Fighting with the Force You Have: Moving Forward with Mobile Expeditionary Basing

06/03/2020By Robbin Laird As noted earlier, a key contribution which the USMC can provide for the joint and coalition force is afloat or ashore is mobile and expeditionary basing. In an earlier article, built around a discussion with Lieutenant Colonel Barron, ADT&E Department Head at MAWTS-1, we focused on what is required to do mobile basing effectively. In effect, the… Read more »

New Appointee Delineates Trump’s Nuclear Arms Control Vision

06/01/2020By Richard Weitz In his first public speech on U.S. arms control policy, the newly appointed Special Presidential Envoy for Arms Control, Marshall Billingslea, offered more details on the administration’s general approach toward the issue, particularly concerns about “unconstrained” warheads and verification. Billingslea has also been nominated to be the Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, with… Read more »

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A Small Ship with a Big Impact: The Aussies Work the Integrated Distributed Force

04/23/2020The Arafura Class Offshore Patrol Vessel is the first of the new build platforms. It provides the template with regard to the entire reset of how the Australians are seeking to build out their integrated distributed force. The contours of the new template are in place and can be identified and this report provides an… Download PDF Now »

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Williamtown Airbase Operations, 2020

06/02/2020We have visited Williamtown Airbase in Australia several times in the past and look forward to future visits. In this posting, we highlight recent flight operations from Williamtown Airbase as… Read more »

Working Mobile Basing: Defining the Challenge

05/31/2020By Robbin Laird The USMC has mobile basing in its DNA. With the strategic shift from the Middle Eastern land wars to full spectrum crisis management, an ability to distribute… Read more »

The Coming of the Air Warfare Destroyer to Australia: A Key Maritime Kill Web Building Block

05/31/2020By Robbin Laird, Williams Foundation Research Fellow Recently, the third and final Air Warfare destroyer, appropriately named HMAS Sydney was commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy. This was a very… Read more »

Working Expeditionary Basing: MAWTS-1 and the F-35

05/29/2020By Robbin Laird Over the past few weeks, I have been discussing with USAF and U.S. Navy officers, how the two services are training to shape greater synergy with regard… Read more »

The Strategic Shift and Dynamic Targeting: Meeting the Challenge

05/28/2020By Robbin Laird With the strategic shift from the land wars to the more fluid battlespace involving peer competitors engaged in full spectrum crisis management with the United States and… Read more »

The Return of Direct Defense in Europe and Political Warfare: A Canadian Perspective

05/27/2020A key part of the direct defense challenge being faced in Europe today is political warfare with the 21st century authoritarian powers. And a key policy instrument being used by… Read more »

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SPMAGTF Operating from a FARP

06/05/2020U.S. Marines with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron (VMGR) 352, assigned to the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Central Command (SPMAGTF-CR-CC) 19.2, conduct a Forward Aerial Refueling Point (FARP)… Read more »