10/26/2017: Exercise Northern Shield 2017 (NS17) is an Australian Defence Force (ADF) training activity where high-readiness forces deploy quickly to remote locations in Australia in response to a simulated incident. This year, NS17 involves a civilian evacuation scenario from a fictitious state that is based on the North Queensland region. This…
2017-10-17 By Robbin Laird and Murielle Delaporte With the primary focus on the land wars in the Middle East, the priorities has been on the training, skill sets, and equipment for land warfare concepts of operations against an ideologically motivated opponent. For much of this period, stability operations and counter-insurgency…
2017-10-23 According to a story published by the Australian Department of Defence on October 12, 2017, the ScanEagle has completed its operational evaluation during an Australian deployment to the Middle East. HMAS Newcastle has conducted the RAN’s first simultaneous operations of manned and unmanned aircraft during its current deployment to…
2017-10-16 By Robbin Laird and Murielle Delaporte As the NATO allies focus on new threats and those posed by historic competitors, the need to reinforce North Atlantic defense is coming back into focus. As the former head of NORAD, Admiral Gortney, put it in an interview shortly before his departure:…
2017-10-18 By Robbin Laird and Murielle Delaporte When the UK cancelled the Nimrod MRA4 program, the RAF faced a significant challenge: how to keep UK ASW and MPA skill sets alive? The UK established the seedcorn program to provide a bridge to what would become an acquisition of the P-8…
2017-10-15 By Robbin Laird With the Nordic states facing significant strategic change in their region, and a Nordic Security Zone from the Arctic to the Baltics requiring enhanced cooperation to deal with the changes, how might the Nordics best shape a way ahead? During my latest trip to Denmark, I…
2017-10-09 By Robbin Laird With the cross learning among the combat forces as they shape more effective integrated combat forces to prevail in a contested environment, the business rules need to change to adapt platforms more rapidly to evolving combat requirements. The force will be built around core multi-mission platforms,…
10/14/2017: U.S. Soldiers attending Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course (WTI) conduct an Offensive Air Support (OAS) exercise during Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course (WTI) at Yodaville, Ariz., Oct. 3, 2017. The OAS exercise is designed to focus on the integration of air combat element aviation assets with a developed ground scheme…
