By Robbin Laird During visits to the United Kingdom, I have had a chance to see and visit with RAF the operators of the quick reaction air capability in the United Kingdom. A key point is that to have two aircraft ready to fly on a moment’s notice, or within…
The Arrow Exercises are led by the Finnish Army and are part of training of Finnish forces based in large part on their mobilization capabilities. For example, the Finnish Army provided this comment with regard to Arrow 17: Arrow 17 is the final manoeuvre for many conscripts. There are also…
Last year, we visited RAF Marham and got an update on the progress with regard to the base in preparation for the arrival of its first squadron of F-35s. This year, we visited RAF Marham and got an update in early May 2018 from Air Commodore David Bradshaw, Commander of…
In a new report produced under the aegis of NORDEFCO, the Nordic cooperation effort is assessed and analyzed. The authors of the report, Tuomas Iso-Markku, Eeva Innola, and Teija Tiilikainen, focused on the history and the way ahead with regard to Nordic cooperation. https://www.fiia.fi/en/project/a-stronger-north-developing-nordic-cooperation-on-foreign-and-security-policy Eeva Innola is a research fellow…
By Robbin Laird Trident Juncture 2018 will be a major NATO exercise. As the head of the Transformation Command in NATO, General Mercier, put it last year: “NATO needs to hold exercises on a large scale. “Only this way are we able to test all the levels in the alliance:…
By Richard Weitz Russia’s national security elite do not perceive U.S. missile defenses as the most serious obstacle to strategic arms control. Their concerns mostly focus on U.S. long-range conventional strike weapons, U.S. space-based systems, NATO nuclear weapons sharing, U.S. military activities around Russia, non-ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban…
By Robbin Laird As Norway looks to its defense transformation and working out ways to work more effectively with its allies in extended defense and deterrence, it faces change in Europe associated with significant dynamics of change in Europe from Brexit to Catalonia. At the same time, the US is…
This past March, the Dutch government released a new defence white paper. According to the MoD statement published on March 26, 2018: The Netherlands Ministry of Defence can once again have confidence in the future. After years of budget cuts, the Defence organisation is investing in its people, capabilities and…
