By Robbin Laird During my visit to 2nd Marine Air Wing during the first week of December 2020, I had a chance to visit New River Marine Corps Air Station and meet with Lt. Col. Frank, VMX-1, to get an update on the coming of the CH-53K. Lt. Col. Frank…
By Robbin Laird During my visit to 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, and to New River Marine Corps Air Station, I had a chance to visit Marine Aircraft Group 26. Over the years, I have had a chance to come often to MAG-26 and to discuss the MV-22B Osprey, its introduction,…
By Robbin Laird Last July, North Carolina-based Marines organized an exercise in which they called Deep Water. In a press release from November 5, 2020, this is how II Marine Expeditionary Force described the exercise: “Marines with 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, and 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing are…
Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 269 (HMLA-269) is currently commanded by Lt. Col. Short and is a squadron consisting of the AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter and the UH-1Y Venom utility helicopter. They are known as the Gunrunners, and next door within the same hangar are the Warriors of Marine Light…
Two recent DefenceiQ conferences provided unique insights into the way ahead for air and sea power. The first conference with the International Fighter Conference 2020 and was held (virtually) on November 18 and 19, 2020. The second was held on December 1, 2020 and focused on the evolution of amphibious…
By Robbin Laird The International Fighter Conference 2020 provided insights with regard to the evolution of combat airpower, notably with regard to enablers and effectors, and pathways to shaping greater force integration and multi-domain warfighting capabilities. But to do what exactly? And how best to do it? The clear assumption…
By Robbin Laird The second strand of the International Fighter Conference 2020 was the question of the effectors which could be delivered by the evolution of air combat power, notably leveraging multi-domain capabilities. This strand was woven throughout the day and could be seen in a variety of ways, in…
By Robbin Laird The last two International Fighter Conferences, 2018 and 2019, where very different from this one. And I am not just referring to the virtual nature of the conference. This fighter conference was less about fighters than about the changing context of airpower in terms of what enables…
