2013-05-03 As Singapore gets closer to announcing its F-35B downselect decision, it is important to underscore the key role, which Italy has played in the program and in building a carrier on which the airplane will operate. As the F-35 “club” expands, significant effects will come from the ability to work…
2013-04-28 By Robbin Laird The great thing about history is we know the outcome. Or I could put that more correctly, we think we know the outcome and we can debate how we got there or we can debate what it means, or whether history is prologue. With regard to…
2013-04-27 by Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake We have written frequently about the F-35 and its coming role as a fleet. The plane was designed from the ground up to operate in multiple plane formations and to share data across the formation as well as with the joint and coalition…
2013-04-25 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake Recently, Second Line of Defense’s Murielle Delaporte spent time with the French forces in Mali. Embedded with the forces she was able to observe the transition of those forces within Mali. Soon, Delaporte will be reporting on her look at the transition and…
2013-04-16 Second Line of Defense had a chance to continue our discussions with Rear Admiral Buzby, Military Sealift Command Commander, in early April 2013. Day in and day on the oceans of the world, operating in the support of the Navy fleet in all weather, climate and sea states it…
2013-04-16 In the height of the Korean crisis, and the clear need for the United States to reinforce South Korea and Japan, our Chinese “allies” are attacking such efforts under the guise of the threat of the “Pivot to the Pacific.” Rather than focusing on the real and present danger from…
2013-04-14 by Robbin Laird With 2014 coming, NATO faces a transition in Afghanistan. With this transition, comes the need to attend as best as possible to Afghan security and to ensure that the conditions which led to the U.S. and then NATO intervention simply return. A decade of war, which…
2013-04-14 The North Korean crisis reminds us that the role of Chinese arms exports and technology transfer are already globally significant. The involvement of China in the proliferation of nuclear technology to Pakistan, North Korea, and Iran is a key element in supporting triangular trade among the emergent nuclear club. As…
