2015-06-03 By Robbin Laird As published by our partner India Strategic http://www.indiastrategic.in/topstories3766_A_Tale_of_Three_Carriers.htm Newport News, Pascagoula, Mississippi, and Rosyth Scotland. In the famous opening lines of Charles Dickens Tale of Two Cities, he noted that “it was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” So it is for…
2015-05-29 By Robbin Laird The continuous sorties of F-35Bs aboard on the USS Wasp on May 26, 2015 witnessed by visitors from the foreign and the U.S. press was almost numbing. There are six planes aboard the ship, 4 from the Green Knights squadron at Yuma and 2 from the…
2015-05-29 The Marines are the core customers for the V-22. And no military force in the world is more demanding of versatility than the USMC. A good example is how the Marines have driven multi-mission capabilities from their KC-130Js with the harvest hawk system. Here the tanker/lifter becomes weaponized and…
2015-06-01 By Robbin Laird Today, the Commander of the Air Combat Command spoke at an Air Force Association breakfast meeting and discussed the way ahead for the ACC and for airpower more generally. He argued that today’s fights were seeing demand outstripping the supply of capabilities and clearly this worries…
2015-05-28 By Robbin Laird I visited the HMS Queen Elizabeth on March 31, 2015 and conducted interviews in MoD afterwards. The HMS Queen Elizabeth is a new carrier designed to leverage core 21st century technologies and to reshape the UK forces into a more effective power projection force. And the…
2015-05-28 By Robbin Laird In late March 2015, I had a chance to visit the new generation British carrier, the HMS Queen Elizabeth and passed by the rapidly emerging Prince of Wales as well. Then the next day after the visit, I sat down with Royal Navy and Royal Air…
2015-05-17 By Robbin Laird This September, the Osprey will reach an 8-year mark in its operational deployment history. In September 2007, the Osprey was deployed for the first time to Iraq. The USMC Commandant Conway and Deputy Commandant of Aviation Castellaw announced and made the decision to deploy the Osprey…
2015-05-23 By Robbin Laird During my visit to 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade on March 17, 2015, I had a chance to interview Major General Richard L. Simcock II, Commanding General, 2d MEB, and Major Marcus Mainz, lead 2d MEB planner for Exercise Bold Alligator 2014, where we had a lengthy…
