An Update on the French Government Approach to Drones: A March 2025 Update

03/02/2025
By Pierre Tran Paris - The armed forces minister, Sébastien Lecornu, visited Feb. 27 Turgis Gaillard, a private company developing and building a low-cost medium-altitude, long-endurance combat drone, dubbed Aarok, at Blois, central France.    “Turgis Gaillard had the honor to welcome the armed forces minister, Sébastien Lecornu, on its…

The Payload Revolution: Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Decision-Making

02/26/2025
By Robbin Laird When I visited VADM Miller, then the Navy’s Air Boss, in 2020, I learned of something called MISR. No not a cheap person, but the Navy’s rethink of how to work the left side of the kill chain or to expand its capability to provide the data…

Integrated Training Exercise 1-25: The CH-53K Contributes

02/23/2025
As the Trump Administration considers a way ahead for U.S. forces, support for the USMC should be front and center. Multi-domain warfare delivered by a survivable and lethal force is at the heart of effective distributed operations. The Maines have crafted the most advanced air enablement capability for the ground…

Dealing with the World We Are In: Guidance for a Way Ahead

02/19/2025
By Robbin Laird We are publishing four books this year which provide detailed assessments of the question of how did we get where we find ourselves today. In addition, we are publishing assessments as well of aspects of shaping a way ahead, which provide a partial answer to how we…

Cold Weather Training: Enhancing Capabilities for Operations in the High North

02/15/2025
By Robbin Laird I have focused since my time working with the USCG and with Rear Admiral (Retired) Gilbert, on the challenges of the Arctic opening. I wrote a good deal on this subject from 2010-2015, including highlighting the need for new icebreakers. Well that did not happen. Ed Timperlake…

An Interview With General Lionel Catar, Commander of the 27th BIM

02/14/2025
By Murielle Delaporte Conceived of as “a forum for an exchange between industries and specialized military units operating in a variety of environments ”, General Catar is delighted to “welcome this community to Grenoble, capital of the Alps and of the French Army Mountain Infantry Brigade, the 27th BIM”, and…

The Publication of Defense XXIV: Reworking U.S. and Allied Defenses to Deal with the Multi-Polar Authoritarian Challenge

02/10/2025
Beginning with the year 2020, we have published an annual publication to highlight defense dynamics and developments over the past five years. This provides a unique insight into developments during this period by providing assessments published in real time during that period. We started with 2020 and highlighted the pandemic…

A January 2025 Update on the Indian Air Force MRFA Program

02/03/2025
By Air Marshal Anil Chopra (Retd) New Delhi. Conscious of serious capability gaps, India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) had announced formation of a high-level committee to address shortages in the Indian Air Force (IAF). For some time, the IAF has been grappling with the reduced fighter aircraft with the squadron…