By Robbin Laird In a modern defense and industrial ecosystem, the journey from raw material to a flight critical component is often invisible to strategists, policymakers, and even operators who depend on these parts every day. Yet it is precisely in places like this machine shop, captured in the photos…
By Robbin Laird Colonel Kate Fleeger took the helm of PMA-261, the Naval Air Systems Command program office responsible for the Marine Corps’ heavy lift portfolio, in 2022. She arrived at a pivotal moment: the CH-53K King Stallion was moving out of its developmental phase and into full rate production,…
By Robbin Laird The Trump administration’s fiscal year 2027 budget proposal has placed noncombat shipbuilding at the center of America’s defense investment debate for the first time in a generation. A 46 percent increase in shipbuilding funding, reaching $65.8 billion, represents the most ambitious peacetime commitment to the logistics fleet…
By Robbin Laird The V-22 Osprey’s nacelle improvement program represents far more than a maintenance initiative for an aging tiltrotor aircraft. It serves as a revealing case study in how military forces must reconceive readiness itself as they transition from episodic crisis management to persistent chaos management. The challenge of…
By Robbin Laird When the Marine Corps introduces a new platform, the temptation inside the institution and outside it, is to describe it as a better version of what it replaces. More powerful, more capable, longer range. An incremental advance. This framing is understandable, and sometimes accurate. It is not…
By Robbin Laird The GAO’s recent report on Osprey safety draws attention to real mishaps and genuine concerns, but its framing, methods, and omissions risk reinforcing an outdated caricature of the V‑22 rather than illuminating the actual safety problems the force faces. A more rigorous and operationally grounded assessment shows…
By Robbin Laird When the CMV-22B Osprey touched down on the deck of USS Carl Vinson in August 2021, it marked more than just another aircraft delivery. It represented a fundamental transformation in how the United States Navy supplies carrier operations. The “Titans” of Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron (VRM) 30,…
By CAPT (Ret) Christoper C. Misner, Senior Manager, Bell Strategic Pursuits The U.S. National Defense Strategy prioritizes the Indo-Pacific as a critical theater for national security. For naval and joint forces operating in that theater, an operationally limiting factor is the so-called tyranny of distance. Vast distances required to operate…
