By Robbin Laird I had a chance to talk with Chris Morton during the 2025 Navy League meetings held the first week of April 2025. Morton is the Aerospace and Defence Global Industry Director at IFS which is an enterprise software company. We discussed the arrival of maritime autonomous systems…
By Robbin Laird I am publishing a book later this year forcused on the paradigm shift in maritime operations. For this paradigm shift, the U.S. must get beyond a primary focus on the thirty-year shipbuilding plan. While the U.S. Navy and its allies focus on distributed capital ship operations, there…
By George Galdorisi One of the most frequently-read recent articles on this site is Mike Daum’s excellent piece: Infantry Wins Battles, Logistics Wins Wars: The Role of the Army’s ‘Little Navy’ in the Pacific. As the title implies, this piece is focused on the U.S. Army; however, two key statements universalize…
The first pillar of the Italian approach to airpower has been a clear commitment to the F-35 as a driver of change in shaping a fifth generation enabled force. The second pillar has been to build a facility to produce their own F-35s along with European allies and to place…
By Robbin Laird Currently, I am in Australia for the latest Williams Foundation Seminar. The key theme for the September 26, 2024 seminar is upon how to enhance the force in being's operational capabilities. And when you extend that to the broader question of how to do so for Australia…
By Robbin Laird As the U.S. and allied militaries face the realities of the evolving threat based environment, shaping ways for enhanced force mobility, lower signature operating forces, and more rapid insertion capabilities are shaping the demand side of the military communications market. To operate at the tactical edge or…
By Robbin Laird I was not amazed but concerned when one of the few comments which VP Harris made in her acceptance speech about the U.S. military was this one: "As commander-in-chief, I will ensure America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world." Leaving aside the…
By Robbin Laird Col Kate Fleeger is the head of NAVAIR’s PMA-261 which manages the cradle to grave procurement, development, support, fielding, and disposal of the entire family of H-53 heavy lift helicopters. Col Fleeger has an impressive background in working acquisition issues, and she and her team are providing…
