2013-12-09 By Robbin Laird Recently, Lt. General (Retired) Deptula chaired a key fighter conference in London. He underscored that a new innovative approach to thinking about the future of airpower was needed. According to Deptula “the future needs an agile operational framework for the integrated employment of allied military power.” And he…
2013-12-08 by Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake In our book on shaping a 21st century Pacific defense strategy, we have focused on the emergence of a template for distributed operations. Forward presence, indeed persistent presence, with an understanding that the allies are always forward deployed, with scalable forces with significant…
2013-12-03 We have just published a Special Report drawing together a number of key interviews and analyses of the Italian approach to the F-35. In the report, we look at the Italian engagement with the F-35 and the thinking of Italian airpower leaders about the impact of the F-35 on…
2013-11-14 by Lt. General (Retired) Deptula Since the early days of aviation the progress and the accomplishments of air and space power have been legendary. Airpower changed the face of warfare—not just in terms of precision and lethality, but in all its facets from logistics, to intelligence, to mobility, mission…
2013-11-10 by Robbin Laird Frequently peppering American presentations about the evolution of military strategies, approaches and capabilities are references to the central importance of coalitions and of partners. But what is not often realized is HOW fundamentally the situation has changed over the past thirty years. When coalitions and partners…
2013-11-08 By Robbin Laird Upon returning to the United States from Europe, I had a chance to reflect back on my visit to Italy and the discussions, which I had with senior officials about their approach to the F-35. I was able to do so with Rear Admiral Covella, the…
2013-11-05 A core advantage of having a global manufacturing system like the F-35 (from Cameri to Fort Worth to Japan) is that improvements in one move through the whole manufacturing chain. Here is one improvement in process manufacturing which the Office of Naval Research is shaping: A faster, more precise…
2013-11-04 By Robbin Laird The Italians were significant innovators at the beginning of the era of airpower. They continued throughout the history of airpower to innovate and with the launch of the F-35, they are proving to be innovators once again. Their facilities at Cameri provide support not only for…
