On the Cusp of an Undersea Revolution: Shaping New Ways to Deal with the Threat from Mines

09/07/2016
2016-09-07 By Dr. Norman Friedman and Dr. Scott C. Truver A new epoch––autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs)––promises a radical change in undersea warfare at just the time when conventional technology is becoming less and less affordable throughout the naval world. The greatest threat to warships and commercial shipping is not anti-ship missiles…

Northern Lightning Exercise

09/06/2016
09/06/2016: 4th and 5th generation aircraft soared through the skies at Volk Field on Thursday morning as pilots had combat rehearsal training. Volk Field Combat Readiness Training Center hosted their annual Northern Lightning combat exercise which provides real-world conflict scenarios for active service personnel from the National Guard, Air Force, and the…

Vice-Admiral Barrett on the Way Ahead of the Australian Navy: Design the Force for Decisive and Distributed Lethality

09/06/2016
2016-09-01 By Robbin Laird A key speaker at the Williams Foundation seminar on air-land integration was the Chief of the Australian Navy, Vice Admiral Tim Barrett. Barrett’s speech focused on the opportunities and challenges of the largest recapitalisation of the Australian Navy since World War II. New submarines, destroyers and…

Navy Strike Group Operates Across the Land-Based Environment in Test

09/06/2016
09/06/2016: DAHLGREN, Va. – "Video footage featuring the Navy's evaluation of a strike group’s gun weapon systems, combat systems, and unmanned vehicles’ interoperability with surface and air assets while firing on targets at the 2016 USS Dahlgren demonstration, Aug. 30. It was the first time an entire Navy strike group was…

Building a New Class of Conventional Submarines: The Australian Case

09/05/2016
2016-09-02 By Robbin Laird © 2016 FrontLine Defence (Vol 13, No 4) After an extensive competition, the Australian government downselected the French firm DCNS to build a new class of advanced-capability conventional (diesel/electric-powered) submarines. The decision was announced on 26 April 2016, in a press release that stated: “The decision…

Uzbekistan After Karimov: A Potential Power Vacuum in a Key Region

09/05/2016
2016-09-05 By Richard Weitz With the death of Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov, the country’s political leaders are in the process of deciding who will be Kasimov’s successor. Predicting the country’s future leadership is difficult given that Karimov has been the country’s only president since Uzbekistan gained independence on August 31,…

Lt. Col. “Chip” Berke Weighs in on the F-35 Critics

09/04/2016
Recently, The Cyber Brief interviewed the Marines leading expert on fifth generation aircraft, who is an F-22 and F-35 pilot among many other things. He had these choice words for the F-35 critics: The question of “Is it worth it?” has to be put into context. You can only determine…