The Textron Aviation Defense Offering for the U.S. Navy’s Undergraduate Jet Training System

04/22/2025
By Robbin Laird At the recent Sea-Air-Space Conference held in National Harbor, Maryland, Textron Aviation Defense was featuring its offering for the Navy’s Undergraduate Jet Training System. The Navy seeks to replace the aging T-45 Goshawk — with the candidates being the multi-engine Textron Aviation Defense-Leonardo-M-346N, the single-engine Boeing-Saab T-7…

Space-Enabled Distributed Forces: Orbit’s Contribution

04/21/2025
I met with Asaf Punis, VP of Marketing and Business Development of Orbit at during the 2025 Navy League meetings held the first week of April 2025. I was especially interested in talking with him because of my interest in C2 enabling a distributed kill web force. With the coming…

European Defence Uptick: The View from the Defense Industries

04/01/2025
By Pierre Tran Paris - Two European arms companies, KNDS France and MBDA, recently pointed up their hefty investment to boost production of cannon shells, artillery, and missiles, indicating a willingness to anticipate orders, and their access to extensive funds. The willingness of those two privately held companies to invest…

Eric Béranger Provides an Update on MBDA and European Defence: March 2025

03/24/2025
By Pierre Tran Paris - MBDA was beating its own targets in building missiles in larger numbers and greater speed, at a time when the ties between Western allies were shifting, the chief executive of the European missile company said March 17. Eric Béranger said last year he had forecast there…

A January 2025 Update on the Indian Air Force MRFA Program

02/03/2025
By Air Marshal Anil Chopra (Retd) New Delhi. Conscious of serious capability gaps, India’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) had announced formation of a high-level committee to address shortages in the Indian Air Force (IAF). For some time, the IAF has been grappling with the reduced fighter aircraft with the squadron…

New Capabilities for Littoral Security and Military Operations: The Case for Seagliders

01/02/2025
By Robbin Laird Technologies and actions by our strategic competitors are dramatically reshaping maritime security and defense strategy, particularly in the Black, Red, & South China Seas.  Littoral operations are being significantly recalibrated by multiple technological advancements while simultaneously being compounded by the actions of strategic competitors. These battlefield advances…

Finland at Euronaval 2024: Finnish Defense Industry in the New Strategic Environment

11/15/2024
By Robbin Laird I attended the Euronaval exposition held in Paris the week of November 3, 2024. I had a chance to visit the Finnish booth at the show and watch the launch of their report on Finnish technologies in the Baltic Sea presented to the show. And then I…

An Update on Dassault in the Context of French Political Uncertainty: July 2024

07/26/2024
By Pierre Tran Paris - The background to sales of the Rafale fighter and Falcon business jets was “uncertainty” due to general elections in Europe and France, and president Joe Biden standing down in the U.S. election campaign, Dassault Aviation executive chairman Eric Trappier said July 23. There was “concern”…