By Dr Alan Stephens It was the 19th century British prime minister Lord Palmerston who famously remarked that in international relations there are “no eternal allies … only interests”. Palmerston’s hard-headed world view has particular relevance for small- and medium-nations that find themselves drawn into high-intensity warfare. The October 1973…
By Robbin Laird During my visit to Helsinki in February 2018, I had a chance to discuss the approach and modernization of Finnish Defense with Jukka Juusti, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Defence. The Permanent Secretary manages and supervises the activities of the Ministry of Defence together with the…
With changes in the region, and with new dynamics of change in the North Atlantic, how might Australia rethink its defense policy? It is clear that the current government has put in place a fundamental transformation of Australian defense policy with the RAAF being significantly modernized, the navy recapitalized but…
By Robbin Laird When I attended the 2016 RAAF Airpower Conference, the main focus was upon the newly released White Paper and related documents announcing the government’s ways ahead on defense modernization. The Conference highlighted key elements for the modernization of the Australian Defence Force and the importance of shaping…
By Robbin Laird The US has introduced a new generation of combat aircraft. These aircraft are different from legacy aircraft notably, in that they are designed, crafted and built differently – they are software upgradeable, data rich military aircraft for 21st century forces. The challenge is to build out the…
Project LAND 400 Phase 2 will acquire 225 Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles (CRV) to replace the Australian Light Armoured Vehicle (ASLAV). The Phase 2 fleet will include seven variants. On 28 July 2016, Defence announced that BAE Systems Australia and Rheinmetall had been shortlisted to participate in the Risk Mitigation Activity,…
By Robbin Laird (Updated) With the all the focus on the Russian intervention in the last US presidential elections, it is useful to take a broader view of the challenge focused by the new technologies and approaches. During my recent visit to Helsinki, a visit the European Centre of Excellence…
The Second Line of Defense team has been in Australia for the past two weeks conducting interviews and will provide highlights from the Airpower Conference being held this week in Canberra as well as updates and a final report for the Williams Foundation Conference on the shift from the land…
