10/31/2011 - by Richard Weitz October 24, UN Day, was not marked with joyous celebrations in Turkey. The Turks we met on our trip earlier this month universally share the general critique common in many of the emerging powers -- that the United Nations is unrepresentative and, in reflecting the…
10/30/2011 Aboard the USS Wasp during F-35B sea trials, Second Line of Defense had a chance to talk with Admiral Scott, Commander of Expeditionary Strike Group Two. The navy leadership aboard the WASP made it clear that V-22/F35B tandem was central to the future of the US Navy. There was…
10/29/2011 In his recent speech in South Korea, the Sec Def made a powerful case for centrality of the Pacific and of coalitions and the danger of a hollow force. I n a recent open letter to the Secretary, we provided some ideas of how to avoid the hollow force and…
10/27/2011 - A key element of understanding a scalable presence strategy is basing. Basing of the force in the Pacific is a function of several key capabilities: Sebasing; Partners and Allies Connected Capabilities; The F-35 and Re-crafting Land Basing Presence is rooted in basing; scalability is inherently doable because of…
10/28/2011 by Richard Weitz When considering South Korea and the F-35 issue, it is important to keep in mind the transformed nature of the ROK-US alliance. Its most important function is still to help protect South Korea from external attack, but it has also evolved, and should continue to do…
10/27/2011 - In our discussions at USMC Yuma Air Station with MAWTS, one issue analyzed was the impact of the first 4-6 F-35Bs on the first operations of the Amphibious Ready Group. This has naturally led us to look at the same sort of question for the CVN and for…
10/26/2011: As this rollout of a Pacific strategy for the United States in the Pacific has made clear, air power is not synonymous with the USAF. Airpower is crucial at every level of establishing presence and shaping the building blocks of scalability. Without aviation assets, the USCG cutters have very…
10/27/2011 We have discussed three surface combatants earlier: the LCS, Aegis and the CVN and have integrated these platforms into a discussion of the interaction between presence and scalability. Here the focus is upon other surface combatants and their roles in the way ahead. If one is focusing upon littoral…
