The Next Phase for the CH-53K: Ramping Up Production

01/02/2023
By Robbin Laird In my assessment of USMC transformation over the past twenty years, I highlighted the coming of the CH-53K as part of the next phase. “As the Marines work enhanced naval integration and expanded force mobility in dealing with the evolving strategic environment, the capabilities which the CH-53K…

European Fighter Decisions: FCAS Next Steps, December 2022

12/20/2022
By Pierre Tran Paris - The French arms procurement office has signed a contract worth €3.2 billion ($3.4 billion) for work on the technology demonstrator phase 1B of the European future combat air system with Airbus, Dassault Aviation, the Eumet engine joint venture, and Indra, the companies said Dec. 16…

NSM and JSM: A Norwegian Contribution to the “Arsenal of Democracy”

11/03/2022
By Robbin Laird With the impact of the Ukraine war ongoing, one observation seems clear with regard to the preparation of the liberal democracies for war rather than military operations: we don’t really have an arsenal of democracy like we once did. When confronting industrial age war, supplies become critical…

France and the War Economy: The Perspective of Thales

10/19/2022
By Pierre Tran Paris - The arms industry and the armed forces ministry are holding talks on how to share the financial risk of building up stocks of weapons, as France moves toward what it calls a war economy after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “Who takes on the commercial…

COVID-19 Disrupts but Does Not Block CIVMEC From Supporting Australia’s OPV Project

09/28/2022
When I was last in Australia in March 2020, I was working on a report on the new Australian OPV program which was the initial effort to shape a continuous shipbuilding approach. That report can be found in Chapter Eight (“Building a New Offshore Patrol Vessel: A Case Study in…

The French Army’s Titan Project: A July 2022 Update

07/11/2022
By Pierre Tran Paris - The French army is preparing for future high intensity warfare with its Titan project, working with the DGA procurement office to devise a high capacity information network to enter service after 2040. Titan is seen as changing the game, based on the concept of “strategy…

Shaping a Way Ahead for French Defense Industry: The Perspective of the Chairman of GIFAS

05/01/2022
By Pierre Tran Paris - There are difficulties in reaching an industrial agreement to build a technology demonstrator for a future European fighter jet, Guillaume Faury, chairman of the Gifas aerospace trade association, said April 28. The phase 1B for the Future Combat Air System was “difficult,” he said at…