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…
The King Stallion as the latest major aviation addition to the USMC has come to MCAS Yuma in two major ways. VMX-1, the key Marine Corps operational test squadron, based at MCAS Yuma and they received their first King Stallion last June. This brought together all the key aricraft which…
By Robbin Laird The Italian Air Force leadership saw early on that the F-35 was more than a next generation aircraft – it was a whole different way to look at airpower in the digital age and enabling multi-domain airpower. They committed to the aircraft and have built a fifth-generation…
I had the privilege of visiting Norfolk in the recent past and discussing the coming of the USS Gerald R. Ford with the first commander of Ford and then the commander of Naval Air Force Atlantic, Rear Admiral “Oscar” Meier. Last month, I had the chance to visit Norfolk once…
By Robbin Laird On 11 November 2024, I was in Rome and meeting with the Air Force Chief of Staff. Lt. General Luca Goretti. When I entered the building and walked to his office, the memory of my last visit to that office and with then COS Lt General Preziosa…
Next year, I am publishing a book on the tiltrotor enterprise. I have been interviewing and engaging with Marines using the aircraft since 2007, the first time I flew on the aircraft. There seems to be a cottage industry of folks writing about the difficulty of flying the aircraft and…
By Robbin Laird I had a chance to visit Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron (VRM) 40 the “Mighty Bison” on Oct. 29, 2024. Earlier, I visited West Coast squadrons at North Island, San Diego, but this was my first opportunity to visit the squadron at Naval Station Norfolk. This squadron will play…
By Pierre Tran Paris - Companies around the world have noted the significance of the uncrewed surface vehicle (USV), or sea drone, as could be seen at Euronaval, an international trade show for every kind of military vessel and maritime kit, which ran Nov. 4-7. The market potential for the…
