By Kenneth Maxwell Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (1869-1955) was known during his lifetime as "Mr. Five Per Cent.” This was after his personal share of Middle East oil. He has remained a very elusive historical individual, a spider at the heart of a veritable global web, an oilman and financier, who…
By Robbin Laird In 2012, I wrote a piece for Breaking Defense which focused on the Bold Alligator Exercise that year and how the image of change was difficulty to see. The coming of the Osprey was about to totally change amphibious operations, but because it was an amphibious exercise, folks…
By Pierre Tran Paris - French electronics company Thales expects to bring greater network connection and speeded up responses as contributions to the Future Combat Air System, a project key to the concept of European defense backed by president Emmanuel Macron. “Clearly the role that we intend to play, in…
According to a story published on the Australian Department of Defence website on June 12, 2019, the Japanese are training with the Australian Army and in so doing are testing their ability to operate their howitzers at longer-range, A first for the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) took place on…
The Russians have expanded the perimeter of their defense capabilities in the Arctic and in so doing have raised concerns from the other Arctic powers. This is clearly a core concern for the Nordics and an important input to their defense modernization efforts, nationally and collectively. And certainly, the Nordic…
By Robbin Laird With the central role which crisis management will play for the US and its allies, a key area of change is in the area of C2. Distributed operations which will be an essential part of the strategic shift will require distributed C2. And C2 will have to…
By Brendan Nicholson Australia’s new chief defence scientist says she has taken on the role at a time when the Australian Defence Force is becoming increasingly receptive to game-changing capabilities. ‘That, to me, is really critical’, Professor Tanya Monro says. A physicist, Monro was working in Britain 15 years ago…
By Eamon Hamilton The Secretary-General of the United Nations, and other dignitaries, toured the South-West Pacific with the assistance of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). António Guterres visited Fiji, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu from May 14-18. His visited included attendance at the Pacific Islands Forum and bilateral talks with regional…
