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…
On June 17, 2018, Steven Valinski provided his latest article covering USMC developments at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma. In his latest piece he highlighted the most recent MAWTS-1 training event, WTI 2-18. While the main objective is to provide advanced aviation tactical training and certification of unit instructors, USMC…
By Robbin Laird The coming of the HMS Queen Elizabeth to the UK combat force is a trigger for significant defense transformation. Most of the analysis of the new carrier really focuses on the platform and what is necessary to get that platform operational but that is far too narrow…
By Cmde Ranjit B Rai (Retd) Arakkonam, Chennai. On March 29 a chapter of Indian Navy’s flying prowess as part of its aviation arm, took a farewell bow as eight Tu-142MR (Tuploev) planes of the Indian Naval Air Squadron (INAS) 312 were decommissioned after proudly serving the Indian Navy for…
Marines with 5th Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, arrive at one of their launch positions with the High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System at the Air Combat Element landing strip as a part of Integrated Training Exercise 3-18 aboard the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif., May…
By Robbin Laird During my latest visit to MAWTS-1, I had a chance to focus upon recent developments generated by the latest WTI course. Last year, I had a chance to talk with Col Wellons and LtCol Ryan Schiller, the Aviation Development, Tactics and Evaluation Department Head, about work on…
