By Robbin Laird I had the opportunity to meet with Lt. General Simon Stuart, Chief of the Australian Army in. his office on 19 May 2025. We discussed a specific aspect of the way ahead for the Australian Army, namely its role in Australian littoral operations. In an era where…
By Robbin Laird The United States Air Force stands at a critical crossroads. After decades of counterinsurgency operations and peacetime bureaucracy, America's air arm faces an uncomfortable reality: it may not be adequately prepared for the high-intensity conflicts that could define the next decade. This sobering assessment comes from one…
By Robbin Laird On 30 April 2025, I had the chance to talk with Major White, the Operations Officer at VMGR-252. This is a KC-130J squadron based at the Marine Corps Air Station at Cherry Point and is part of 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing. The last time I visited the…
By Robbin Laird In an increasingly complex and contested battlefield environment, the U.S. Marine Corps is adapting its aviation support strategy to meet emerging challenges. Captain Medlen, an eight-year Marine Corps veteran currently commanding the Engineers Company of Marine Wing Support Squadron (MWSS) 272, provided valuable insights into how distributed…
The Marine Corps Aviation Association (MCAA) 2025 Symposium is going on this week from May 12 through the 15h in Dallas Texas. We are publishing a piece highlighting the role of one of the somewhat undervalued aviation capabilities which the Marine Corps operates today, namely the H-1 helicopters. By Allen…
By Robbin Laird V-22 modernization efforts are essential to enable the Osprey to remain in service for the next thirty years. One important ongoing effort is the Nacelle Improvement Program. In an earlier interview with David Albin, the Nacelle Readiness Program Manager at Bell, we discussed the key aspects of…
By Robbin Laird At the recent Navy League meetings held during the first week of April, I had a chance to talk with several companies and analysts about the evolution of maritime capabilities and what the U.S. and allies could do to ramp up the capabilities of the “fight tonight…
By Robbin Laird In my forthcoming book on the paradigm shift in maritime operations, I focus on the importance of pairing distributed capital ship operations with the capabilities that air vehicles and autonomous systems can provide to deliver maritime effects in a contested environment. To achieve competitive overmatch in the…
