2018-01-06 On December 22, 2017, the Japanese government published their new defense budget on the MoD website. Japanese Defense Budget, 2018 With an enhanced threat from North Korea and China and the continuing challenges posed by Russia, the Japanese have been strengthening their perimeter defense and are looking to more…
2017-12-29 As we end 2017, the team at Second Line of Defense would like to note that we have focused for MANY years on the re-norming of airpower associated with the coming of the fifth generation aircraft. There have been many opponents along the way, and many of these folks…
2017-12-31 One of the advantages of having built a digital thread manufacturing line for the F-35 at Fort Worth is the capability which the system allows to add evolving digital capabilities to that line. A recent example was highlighted in a story published on exectuvebiz.com on December 7, 2017: Lockheed…
2017-12-28 By Stephen Blank The Trump Administration’s new National Security Strategy (NSS) received a flood of public scrutiny even before it was announced. Not surprisingly this flood morphed into a tidal wave once it appeared. But virtually all of this commentary focused on the tone and major themes observers claimed…
On December 19, 2017, the United States and Canada said that nations from around the world would convene January 16 to show solidarity against North Korea's nuclear program. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, meeting in Ottawa, said the meeting would take place in…
2017-12-16 By Robbin Laird In an interview earlier this year, the Chief of Staff of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Lt. General Hood highlighted what he saw as a key area of competence for the Canadian Air Force and Navy, namely anti-submarine capabilities. He underscored that their new helicopter and…
2017-12-18 Last year, the Chief of Naval Operations had enough with the growing emphasis on what our adversary’s might be able to do as opposed to focusing on U.S. and allied modernizations to support the freedom of action of the liberal democracies. Adm. John Richardson in October 2016 argued: "We're going…
2017-12-05 By Steven Blank Western governments and commentators have both neglected to analyze Russia’s overall strategic campaign in the Middle East, rather than primarily focusing on its actions in Syria. Focusing almost exclusively on Syria and/or on the issue of oil prices that Moscow is negotiating with OPEC and especially…
