By Robbin Laird In August 2023, Deputy Secretary of Defense Hicks announced a new "replicator" project or initiative. As she said in her speech: "At DoD, we’ve already been investing in attritable autonomous systems — across the military services, DIU, the Strategic Capabilities Office, and the combatant commands themselves —…
By Robbin Laird This report focuses on MAWTS-1 in 2023. In 2023, I interviewed the CO of MAWTS-1, Col Eric Purcell, in April and then visited the command in November after the second WTI of the year. This provided a chance to discuss how MAWTS-1 had progressed in working enhanced…
By Robbin Laird With the coming of maritime autonomous systems, we are reminded once again about the importance of understanding what a technology does and does not do for an organization. If you keep the structure of the organization the same, you simply wait for the technology to be useful…
By Robbin Laird I have attended the International Fighter Conference in the past but missed this year’s offering. This year’s conference was held in Madrid, and I was interested in what was discussed at the conference as I am focused on the way ahead for Western air combat forces in…
By Robbin Laird I have focused in a series of interviews with Pierre Garant on how to leverage a new digital aircraft, the CH-53K, to shape an innovative new approach to sustainment. Clearly, technology is not enough. Organizational change enabled by technology is required and to do so in terms…
According to a 12 October 2023 NATO Press Release: Two initiatives were signed in the margins of the NATO Defence Ministers’ meeting this week (11-12 October 2023), demonstrating Allies’ commitment to work together to strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defence in the air domain. On Wednesday (11 October 2023), Germany and…
By Robbin Laird On 27 September 2023, the second Williams Foundation seminar for the year was held at the National Gallery in Canberra. The first focused on deterrence and the second provided a case study of building blocks for enhanced deterrent capabilities, namely shaping a multi-domain strike enterprise for the…
By Robbin Laird From the introduction to the Book: In their preface to their book on the F-35, the authors start with this statement: The F-35s journey through time has been unlike any other in the annuals of aerospace and defense history. It was devised under the gospel of acquisition…
