Building 21st Century Weapons for 21st Century Operations: Key Attributes of the New Weapons Enterprise

03/15/2013
2013-03-15 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake In a wide ranging discussion with Dr. Mark Lewis about hypersonic cruise missiles, former Chief Scientist of the USAF and now head of IDA’s Science and Technology Policy Institute, Dr. Lewis simply stopped and said: “Why are we putting 3rd and 4th generation…

The ARG/MEU in Transition

03/10/2013
2013-03-10 By Col Bradley Weisz, Deputy Commander ESG 2,  Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, VA The ARG-MEU is a very flexible instrument. But as the demand side remains high, and the strategic environment evolves in the 21st century, some changes in operational art are both possible and necessary. The purpose…

The Seabase in Evolution: The Navy’s New Mobile Landing Platform

03/08/2013
2013-03-05 by Robbin Laird and Murielle Delaporte This past Saturday, we attended the christening of the latest US Navy ship at General Dynamics’s NASSCO shipyard in San Diego. Fully loaded, the new ship will displace more than 80,000 tons – yet it isn’t an aircraft carrier. Instead, the USNS Montford…

The French Operation in Mali: Intervene, Leverage and Withdraw

03/04/2013
2013-03-04 By Murielle Delaporte Editor, French magazine “Soutien Logistique Défense”( http://www.sldmag.com) and co-founder, Second Line of Defense. *** This article is based on an interview with the French forces in Mali and lessons learned from recent French operations and military training. The entire French approach is embedded in both history and…