By Robbin Laird The coming of the CH-53KTM to the USMC could not come at a more appropriate time. As the Marines are focused on mobile basing as a key aspect of how they contribute to crisis management, the capabilities of the new aircraft will be in immediate demand. It…
By Robbin Laird BALTOPS 50 was begun on the anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 2021. It was first held in 1972 and is an annual military exercise, held and sponsored by the Commander, US Naval Forces Europe and operates in the Baltic Sea and the regions surrounding it. One can…
On April 8, 2021, the Williams Foundation held a seminar originally scheduled for last March. It was postponed as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. As Air Marshal (Retired) Geoff Brown, Chairman of the Williams Foundation put it in his prologue to the conference: "Since 2013 the Sir Richard Williams Foundation…
By Robbin Laird The development and incorporation of autonomous systems into the Australian fifth-generation force requires a close working relationship between defense industry and the Department of Defence and the services. But also requires meeting the challenge already seen with regard to the introduction of software upgradeable systems such as…
By Robbin Laird During late April 2021, I had the chance to visit II MEF at Camp Lejeune. This command is a key part of the overall effort to reshape the working relationship between the operational Navy and the USMC to enable integrated operations. The entire effort encompassed by Second…
By Robbin Laird In a press release today, it was announced: "The United States Marine Corps (USMC) has successfully demonstrated in flight testing a two-way connection between the AH-1Z Viper helicopter and a ground station using new Link-16 hardware and software." In the context of reshaping the current force in…
By Robbin Laird WGCDR Keirin Joyce noted: “All of the services see robotic autonomous systems as a significant part of the road ahead. It’s just that the services are getting after them differently.” At the Williams Foundation seminar held on April 8, 2021, each of the service chiefs provided their…
By Robbin Laird As II MEF transforms, a key challenge is force cohesion and force aggregation. For example, with the current Marine Expeditionary Unit, the MEU has a well-defined organic capability which allows it to operate effectively and to scale up with force integration with other force units. But going…
