The Challenge of Operating Integrated Manned and Unmanned Systems

11/14/2019
By John Conway The concept of a ‘wingman’ is as old as military aviation itself. Providing mutual support within a formation, the purpose of a wingman was established to protect the flight lead and provide him or her with the additional mental capacity to manage the formation, operate the aircraft, and make decisions. As…

An Update on the Japanese Self Defense Force

11/13/2019
By Eugene Gerden According to recent statements by senior representatives of the Japanese military as well as local defence analysts, Japan is steadily continuing along its path of active defence with the development of a new national defence budget for 2020. According to statements by the official spokesperson for the…

The Williams Foundation Seminar on Fifth Generation Manoeuvre Requirements: Looking Ahead

11/12/2019
By Robbin Laird A week after the completion of the October 24, 2019 Williams Foundation Seminar, I had a chance to talk with Air Marshal (Retired) Geoff Brown about the main findings from the Seminar and the way ahead for the Seminar series. Question: What do you consider the main…

Visiting Checkpoint Charlie: Veterans Day, Armistice Day, and the 30 Year Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

11/11/2019
By Robbin Laird I am in Berlin today for the International Fighter Conference 2019 which starts tomorrow. I took the opportunity to revisit Checkpoint Charlie. It is now a museum, but also a testament to the will of the West to defend liberal democracy against the Soviet Union. I often…

Supply Chain Vulnerabilities: “Losing Without Fighting”

11/10/2019
As John Blackburn has put it recently, if we do not pay much closer focus and care with regard to our supply chains, both civilian and military, we could find ourselves in the position of "losing with fighting." Air Vice Marshal (Retired) has focused much of his research and public…

Projecting Power with the F-35 in the Direct Defense of Australia

11/10/2019
By Marcus Hellyer One of the ironies of the current debate about how Australia should adjust its military strategy in light of the changing great-power balance in the Indo-Pacific is that many of the participants—regardless of their views on the future of US military power—make similar recommendations, namely, that Australia…