By Robbin Laird I have followed the progress of the Wedgetail since my first visits to Australia starting in 2014. This was a unique Australian capability which took time to shape and to integrate into their evolving fifth generation concepts of operations. But they have done so and are further…
The evolution of the Viper Attack Helicopter is part of the USMC's ongoing transformation. The coming of Link 16 and Full Motion Video is a key part of that change. As we noted with regard to this development: As the US Navy reworks how it is operating as a distributed…
By Peter Jennings The immediate significance of the recent AUKMIN gathering in Sydney (January 21, 2022) was that it took place while a Russian military assault on Ukraine is imminent. Given the threat from Moscow, no one would have been surprised had the UK foreign and defence secretaries delayed their…
By James Durso Afghanistan’s Taliban recently proposed it take a role in aid distribution via the creation of a joint mechanism with international aid organizations to coordinate the distribution of food aid to the country. According to the Taliban, "The goal of this committee is coordination on a higher level…
By Pierre Tran Paris - Spain formally approved Jan. 25 a total budget of €3.17 billion ($3.5 billion) for its share of development, production and service of a European medium-altitude, long-endurance drone, clearing the way for a contract to be signed with industrial partners Airbus, Dassault Aviation and Leonardo. That…
Some recent news stories highlight a variety of European actions and reactions in the current Russian-generated Ukraine crisis. Ukraine is composed of a variety of ethnic groups, and those ethnic groups are largely from its proximate neighbors. The graph below provides an overview. Source: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/major-ethnic-groups-of-the-ukraine.html The Hungarian government is one…
By Robbin Laird I am crafting a series on mobile basing as a strategic capability for the joint force. The strategic importance of mobile basing goes up with the importance of complicating your adversaries’ targeting solutions and force projection targets. Seabasing is clearly a key part of being able to…
A major Russian military exercise with Belarus is part of the evolving Russian narrative to pressure Europe and the United States. And this Russian broadcast on 18 January 2022 highlighted an interview with a Russian military expert that explained that it was about defending its interests against the "aggressive West."…
