Trojan Footprint 21: Working the Black Sea Region Challenges

05/09/2021
Trojan Footprint is the premier Special Operations Forces exercise in Europe. While the exercise is focused on improving the ability to SOF to counter myriad threats, it also increases integration with conventional forces and enhances interoperability with our NATO allies and European partners. Most importantly, however, Trojan Footprint builds upon…

French Naval Group Delivers First Air Defense FREMM Frigate to the French Navy

05/09/2021
The FREMM DA Alsace  was launched April 18, 2019 at the Naval Group shipyard of Lorient thirteen months after its keel laying. It is the ninth FREMM frigate built by Naval Group and the seventh one for the French Navy. According to Naval Group: "On April 12, 2021 in Toulon, in the presence of…

The MEB and Naval Integration: Working the Next Phase of Atlantic Defense

05/07/2021
By Robbin Laird The Russian seizure of Crimea set in motion the return of direct defense for both Europe and the United States. With Putin’s Russia reshaping it defense capabilities and concepts of operations, there is a significant reset in terms of how the United States and the allies are…

C2 and Fleet Innovation in the North Atlantic

05/06/2021
By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake With the standing up of Second Fleet in 2018, the stand up of Allied Joint Forces Command and the incorporation of the NATO Centre -- Combined Joint Operations from the Sea – it is clear that Vice Admiral Lewis, who oversees all of this,…

Australia Stands Up Centre of Expertise for Electronic Warfare

05/06/2021
The Commonwealth Government has announced a plan to establish a Centre of Expertise for Electronic Warfare in Adelaide in conjunction with Flinders University and DEWC T&E. Valued at $5 million over five years, the centre has been established under a Professional Electronic Warfare Training, Education and Research (PEWTER) memorandum of…

Egypt to Buy More Rafale Fighter Jets

05/05/2021
By Pierre Tran Paris - France welcomed May 4 an Egyptian announcement of an order for a further 30 Rafale fighter jets and weapons from Dassault Aviation, MBDA and Safran, confirming a news report on Disclose, a French campaigning website. “The armed forces minister, Florence Parly, welcomes the latest export…

The IDF Chooses the CH-53K: Building Block for Manned-Unmanned Operational Future

05/04/2021
By Robbin Laird The IDF recently selected the CH-53K to replace its legacy heavy lift assets, namely, the CH-53D.  It is clear that the IDF is buying the CH-53K for many of the same reasons which USMC is doing so but the IDF has been especially focused on three key…

II MEF Marines Prepare for the High-End Fight: MEFEX 21.1 and Dynamic Cape 21

05/03/2021
By Robbin Laird During a visit to Camp Lejeune during the last week of April 2021, I had a chance to talk and interview the IIMEF leadership team. They had just concluded a major exercise, Dynamic Cape 21, which I will highlight in some of those in the forthcoming published…