By Robbin Laird Recently, I finished a study of the new build offshore patrol vessel and the shaping of a new template for shipbuilding in Australia. This is the first of three new build ships for the Australian Navy and for the Australian Defence Force. Next is the ASW frigate…
RAMSTEIN, Germany NATO aircraft have been busy over the past two days intercepting Russian aircraft flying close to NATO airspace. On 28 April Polish fighters were scrambled under NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission from Estonia to identify two Russian Tu-160 long range bombers, escorted by several fighters and supported by…
According to the top European Union's diplomat, Josep Borrel, there was "an infodemic accompanying the pandemic". According to a story by Andrew Rettman published in the EUOvserver on May 1, 2020: "His service had recorded 400 fake news items on the virus in recent weeks, he said. "Some of the…
You may remember that President Sarkozy made a decision to build Mistral amphibious ships for Putin's Russia. But after some serious rethinking, that sale was voided and a new customer sought. Eventually, the customer for the two ships which had been built was Egypt. And if you fast forward to…
Spain, France and the United Kingdom will take up NATO's Baltic Air Policing mission starting in May, guarding the skies over the Baltic region for the next four months. The three NATO Allies are replacing air force detachments from Belgium and Poland which have protected the airspace of NATO’s three Baltic Allies…
Recently, three RAF Puma helicopters have been dispatched to Kinloss barracks in Moray, Scotland. They are there to be able to respond to COVID-19 incidents throughout Scotland. According to a May 1, 2020 story by David Mackay published by the Press and Journal: "One of the Pumas at Kinloss Barracks…
By Australian Defence and Business Review The US Department of Defense defines the Suppression of Enemy Air Defence (SEAD) mission as that which ‘neutralizes, destroys or temporarily degrades surface-based enemy air defences by destructive and/or disruptive means.’ The so-called ‘Endless Wars’ in the Afghan and Iraqi theatres have seen US and allied air forces operating…
By Robbin Laird During my last meeting with Vice Admiral Miller in San Diego, we discussed the way ahead with regard to the air wing as it become integrated into a wider kill web concepts of operations. In that conversation, we highlighted the shift as one from building an integrated…