By Robbin Laird, Williams Foundation Research Fellow Recently, the third and final Air Warfare destroyer, appropriately named HMAS Sydney was commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy. This was a very significant moment on many levels for Australia and for its allies in the Asia-Pacific region. For this is not just…
By Robbin Laird Over the past few weeks, I have been discussing with USAF and U.S. Navy officers, how the two services are training to shape greater synergy with regard to the integrated distributed force. The fusing of multiple sensors via a common interactive self-healing web enhances the ability of…
By Robbin Laird With the strategic shift from the land wars to the more fluid battlespace involving peer competitors engaged in full spectrum crisis management with the United States and its allies, one aspect of the change for military forces is how to use lethal force effectively. This comes down…
One of the challenges facing the future use of the HMAS Canberra is the evolving nature of the threat in the region, which undoubtedly see the evolution in the ship's capability to work with other air and maritime assets to work sea control missions as well as embarkation missions as…
According to a U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs article published on May 22, 2020, Amphibious transport dock ship USS Portland (LPD 27) successfully disabled an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a Solid State Laser - Technology Maturation Laser Weapon System Demonstrator PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii Amphibious transport dock ship USS Portland (LPD…
By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake We visited the USAF Warfare Center in 2015, when Major General Jay Silveria, was the commanding officer. A visit last month was postponed due to the COVID-19 impacts, but, hopefully, we can return later this year. But we did have the opportunity to have…
By Robbin Laird The US Navy has deployed Triton to Guam and has begun its operational history. According to an article on USNI News by Gidget Fuentes published on May 12, 2020, a pair of MQ-4C Tritons operating from Guam has been integrated into fleet operations and provide reach across…
Recently, NATO Chiefs of Defense held their virtual meeting in NATO military committee history. According to a NATO news item published on May 14, 2020: After meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the 30 Chiefs of Defence reviewed NATO’s ongoing operational commitments, particularly the NATO Resolute Support Mission and…
