Sec Def Mattis Meets Swedish Defense Minister at the Pentagon

05/21/2017
05/21/2017: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis met with Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist at the Pentagon to discuss their countries' alliance, May 18, 2017. 5/18/17 DoD News With the deployment of F-35s to the UK and then to Estonia and Bulgaria, the Trump Administration is focused clearly on NATO security and defense.…

Cyber Hammering Requires Cyber Defense

05/18/2017
2017-05-15 The President has recently signed a new executive order on cyber security. According to an article by Brooke Singman published by Fox News on May 11, 2017: President Trump took aim at the federal government’s vulnerability to computer hacking Thursday, signing an executive order that mandates a top-down review…

Aussie P-8 Does First Search and Rescue at Sea

05/18/2017
2017-05-18 Not yet operational, an Aussie P-8 on a training mission, performed a search and rescue mission at sea. According to an article published May 17, 2017 on the Australian Department of Defence website: The Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF) latest maritime surveillance and response capability—the P-8A Poseidon,has assisted with…

New Special Report: Designing and Building an Integrated Australian Defence Force

05/18/2017
2017-05-09  By Robbin Laird The Williams Foundation working closely with the Australian Defence Force has provided a public forum for rethinking how to reshape their defense force to deal with 21st century challenges. This is the sixth Special Report produced in cooperation with Second Line of Defense. The first report looked…

Another Italian First: The First F-35B Built Abroad

05/13/2017
2017-05-07 By Robbin Laird In a 2015 piece, I highlighted three historic firsts for Italy in the F-35 program delivered in 2015. LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. -- At the beginning of the 20th Century, Italy was a pioneer in combat aviation. Although different at the beginning of the 21st century,…