2016-09-02 By Robbin Laird © 2016 FrontLine Defence (Vol 13, No 4) After an extensive competition, the Australian government downselected the French firm DCNS to build a new class of advanced-capability conventional (diesel/electric-powered) submarines. The decision was announced on 26 April 2016, in a press release that stated: “The decision…
Recently, The Cyber Brief interviewed the Marines leading expert on fifth generation aircraft, who is an F-22 and F-35 pilot among many other things. He had these choice words for the F-35 critics: The question of “Is it worth it?” has to be put into context. You can only determine…
2016-08-29 By Robbin Laird Prior to the latest Williams Seminar on shaping a 21st century joint force, I had a chance to meet and discuss the challenges with Rear Admiral Tony Dalton. He is the head of the Joint Systems Division of the ADF’s acquisition and sustainment group and has…
2016-08-31 By Vitaliy Katsenelson The Great Recession may be over, but seven years later we can still see the deep scars and unhealed wounds it left on the global economy. In an attempt to prevent an unpleasant revisit to the Stone Age, global governments have bailed out banks and the…
2016-08-22 By Robbin Laird Recently, I revisited Williamtown airbase, where I earlier visited the Wedgetail Squadron and the F-18 squadrons. And during the last visit did a site visit and looked at the infrastructure modernization approach being implemented on the base. This time, I had a chance to talk with…
2016-08-30 By Robbin Laird Prior to attending the Williams Foundation Seminar on air-sea integration, I had the opportunity to sit down with Rear Admiral Johnathan Mead in his office in Canberra to discuss his perspective, on the way ahead with regard to the Navy within the evolution of the ADF.…
2016-08-29 By Robbin Laird The lead off speaker at the Williams Foundation seminar on air-land integration was Rear Admiral Manazir. Rear Admiral Manazir currently serves as the deputy chief of naval operations for warfare systems (OPNAV N9) on the staff of the chief of naval operations. In this capacity, he…
2016-08-25 By Robbin Laird I first met Air Marshal (Retired) Geoff Brown, when he was the head of the Royal Australian Air Force. At that time, he was focused on ensuring that the F-35 became a key element of the modernizing RAAF. Since his retirement, he joined the Williams Foundation and…
