By Robbin Laird The Australian Offshore Patrol Vessel or the Arafura Class OPV program is the launch program for the new Australian approach to shipbuilding. Termed a “continuous shipbuilding process,” the core point is to have an ongoing shipbuilding effort, rather than a start and stop approach built around a…
by Dean Wingrin The US Navy’s Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Carney (DDG64) arrived in Cape Town for a planned port visit on Sunday 15 March, but all activities have been curtailed to minimize the spread of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus). Planned as the US Naval Forces Africa’s effort to build…
By Air Vice-Marshal John Blackburn AO (Retd) & Anne Borzycki, IIER-A In February 2020, the Australian Financial Review (AFR) reported that Australia is dangerously dependent on imported medicine. The report referenced by the AFR was published last month by the Institute for Integrated Economic Research – Australia(IIER-A). The report highlighted that…
As the Japanese focus on strengthening the perimeter of their defenses of Japan, new systems are being procured and modifications to platforms being made. The purchase of Ospreys and F-35s both As and Bs, along with the modification of Japanese helicopter landing ships are entailed as Japan looks to its…
By Robbin Laird On March 12, 2020 I had a chance to visit HMAS Sterling and to visit the HMAS Rankin, one of the Collins class submarines homeported at HMAS Sterling on Garden Island. When I informed a senior U.S. Navy Admiral that I was going to visit the Royal…
In a March 5, 2020 article published on the UK Ministry of Defence website, it was announced that "a review that will revitalize the UK’s defence and security industrial sectors and improve productivity has been launched." The review will identify how the government can take a more strategic approach to ensure…
By Robbin Laird This week I have had the opportunity to visit Western Australia. I visited both the Henderson shipyard and HMAS Stirling, the Collins submarine base. I will write in detail about those visits and discussions at the two facilities in the near future. These visits when combined with…
By Pierre Tran Paris - Political support has been vital for a European medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle, and even with that backing, years have passed before a program contract appears to be in reach, analysts said. France expects to green light a deal by mid year, which would clear…
