As the land wars dominated the past 15 years, a number of key skill sets atrophied or certainly were drawn down. A core one was clearly anti-submarine warfare skill sets. As the defense of Northern Europe returns as a direct challenge to core NATO nations, recovering and building maritime domain…
By Robbin Laird During the past couple of years, I have focused on the part of Europe which is very serious about defense, namely, Northern Europe. The Danes, the Norwegians, the Swedes and the Finns, all have refocused efforts on defense of their nations, but in a broader regional context.…
By Robbin Laird As the USMC works the transition from a primary focus on counter-insurgency operations to operations against peer competitors. A key focus of Marine Corps training is to enhance their ability to operate across the battlespace from discrete locations but to be able to concentrate fires through consolidated…
By Captain George Galorisi and Dr. Scott Truver As the USN-USMC team shapes its way ahead with regard to the Expeditionary Strike Group, several new capabilities have come to that force. First there was the Osprey; then their was the F-35; and next up will be the coming of the…
By Robbin Laird There is probably no single air platform more affected by the transition from the strategic shift from counter-insurgency to the high-end fight than unmanned aerial systems. These systems have come to the fore during counter-insurgency operations and have provided significant persistent surveillance for the ground forces. They…
By Robbin Laird During my visit to Portsmouth, England and to RAF Marham in early May 2018, I visited senior Royal Navy and defense personnel involved in the standing up of the UK carrier strike capability. After my morning briefings with the Royal Navy with regard to preparing the carrier…
By Robbin Laird What was clear from my visit to MAWTS-1 and getting a chance to look at the work of the latest WTI is that the Marines are working ways to enhance the combat capability of the MAGTF but in a way that can reach back to joint assets…
By Robbin Laird The CH-53k will replace the CH-53E. It will be the premier heavy lift helicopter. It has a number of key performance characteristics which make it a significant upgrade over the CH-53E, notably, an ability to carry three times of the external load of the CH-53E. There are…
