By Robbin Laird Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 461 (HMH-461) at MCAS New River, North Carolina plays the foundational role in introducing the CH-53K King Stallion into Marine Corps operational service. Their operational expertise directly informs the ongoing transition of additional Marine Corps squadrons to the King Stallion. Here is a…
Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has fundamentally transformed Russia into a war economy, but not in the way many initially expected. Rather than serving merely as a means to achieve territorial conquest, the prolonged conflict has evolved into something far more strategically valuable for Putin: a mechanism…
As tensions in the South China Sea reach new heights, the United States and Philippines are dramatically expanding their military cooperation through a combination of new infrastructure projects and cutting-edge unmanned systems. The United States plans to fund and construct a facility capable of hosting watercraft and assault boats on…
In a significant demonstration of evolving naval warfare doctrine, U.S. Marines with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 162 successfully integrated into anti-submarine warfare operations during Atlantic Alliance 2025, marking a significant evolution in how the Navy-Marine Corps team approaches undersea threats. The exercise, conducted at the Surface Combat Systems Center…
By Robbin Laird Italy is poised to make aviation history by establishing the first F-35 fighter pilot training center outside the United States, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto announced during a ceremony in Sardinia July 2. The groundbreaking facility will be located in Sicily, further cementing Italy's position as a key…
2016-03-02 Our colleague Air Vice Marshal (Retired) John Blackburn has focused attention on the energy security shortfall for Australia for some time. As an island continent at the bottom of the Asia Pacific region, Australia is heavily dependent upon liquid energy imports and with a rapidly disappearing domestic refinery production capacity,…
2016-01-30 Recently, our partner defenceWeb looked at the evolving challenges of maritime defense and security seen from South Africa. Thursday, 28 January 2016 Economic growth through development of the ocean economy as part of Operation Phakisa requires effective maritime surveillance and defence, with nearly 4 000 kilometres of South Africa’s…
2015-11-08 By Richard Weitz The United States and European allies and partners can respond more effectively against the kinds of hybrid threats we gave been discussing on Second Line of Defense. NATO can take actions, primarily in the military and intelligence fields, to deter and counter direct Russian threats against…