The Paradigm Shift in Maritime Operations: What Potential Role for Future Tiltrotor Systems?

04/24/2025 By Robbin Laird In my forthcoming book on the paradigm shift in maritime operations, I focus on the importance of pairing distributed capital ship operations with the capabilities that air vehicles and autonomous systems can provide to deliver maritime effects in a contested environment. To achieve competitive overmatch in the air, performance characteristics like range, speed, and payload capacity is… Read more »

The Textron Aviation Defense Offering for the U.S. Navy’s Undergraduate Jet Training System

04/22/2025 By Robbin Laird At the recent Sea-Air-Space Conference held in National Harbor, Maryland, Textron Aviation Defense was featuring its offering for the Navy’s Undergraduate Jet Training System. The Navy seeks to replace the aging T-45 Goshawk — with the candidates being the multi-engine Textron Aviation Defense-Leonardo-M-346N, the single-engine Boeing-Saab T-7 and the single-engine Lockheed Martin-KAI T-50. I am familiar with… Read more »

Space-Enabled Distributed Forces: Orbit’s Contribution

04/21/2025 I met with Asaf Punis, VP of Marketing and Business Development of Orbit at during the 2025 Navy League meetings held the first week of April 2025. I was especially interested in talking with him because of my interest in C2 enabling a distributed kill web force. With the coming of maritime autonomous systems which can deliver mesh fleets to… Read more »

The H-1s at MAWTS-1: Participating in Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course 2-25

04/20/2025 U.S. Marine Corps UH-1Y Venom and AH-1Z Viper pilots assigned to Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One (MAWTS-1), are seen in the photo slide show below at the Weapons and Tactics Instructor course 2-25 at Mesquite, California, April 14, 2025. WTI is a seven-week training event hosted by MAWTS-1 which emphasizes operational integration of the six functions of Marine… Read more »

Maritime Autonomous Systems and Force Development: Shaping a Way Ahead

04/17/2025 By Robbin Laird I had a chance to talk with Chris Morton during the 2025 Navy League meetings held the first week of April 2025. Morton is the Aerospace and Defence Global Industry Director at IFS which is an enterprise software company. We discussed the arrival of maritime autonomous systems and their impact on capital ship navies. Morton noted that… Read more »

The U.S. Approach to Defense and Deterrence in the Indo-Pacific: Deconstructing Admiral Paparo’s Recent Testimony

04/16/2025 By Robbin Laird Recently the Commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command presented testimony before the Congress. In this piece, I will deconstruct that testimony to highlight key elements for shaping a way ahead in the near to mid-term. Not only is this necessary to focus on what the force needs now, but redesigning the force along these lines will not… Read more »