The Way Ahead for the Joint Land Combat Force: The Perspective of the Australian Army Chief, Lt. General Angus Campbell

04/20/2016
2016-04-20 By Robbin Laird The well-regarded chief of the Australian Army, Lt. General Angus Campbell, weighed in on the future of the Australian Army in the joint environment in two presentations recently in Canberra. The first was during the RAAF’s 2016 Air Power Conference and the second was during the…

The Australian Army Modernizes for the 21st Century Battlespace: An Interview with Brigadier General Chris Mills, Australian Army

04/16/2016
2016-04-16 By Robbin Laird The current Chief of Staff of the Army, Lt. General Angus Campbell and Brigadier General Chris Mills, Director General, Army Modernization provided the Australian Army perspective on the evolving framework for air-land integration under the impact of evolving technologies at the Williams Foundation seminar. The Chief…

An Update on Plan Jericho From the Perspective of Jericho Dawn: A Discussion with Group Captains Campbell and Mitchell

04/15/2016
2016-04-15  By Robbin Laird During the Airpower Conference hosted by the Chief of Staff of the Royal Australian Air Force, the co-leaders of the Plan Jericho project, Group Captains Andrew “Jake” Campbell and Peter Mitchell, provided an update on the Plan Jericho effort. And the approach permeated the discussion at…

Political Disorder 2016: Distrust of Government and Political Parties

04/14/2016
2016-04-14  By Harald Malmgren 2016 is a year of political disorder in many nations. Long established political parties are suffering fragmentation and leadership disputes. In some nations new parties are forming and gaining momentum. In others fringe parties are gaining traction and emerging as mainstream challengers. Voter frustration and discontent…

Recrafting the Surveillance Response Group for the Extended Battlespace: An Interview with Air Commodore Heap, Commander of the SRG

04/13/2016
2016-04-13 By Robbin Laird Last August, I had to chance to visit the SRG and discuss its mission, platforms and evolution with Air Commodore Westwood, and members of his team. Air Commodore Westwood characterized SRG as a “pre-Jericho” force in the sense that the various ISR and C2 assets within…

The Wedgetail, the RAAF and Shaping a Way Ahead for the Australian Defense Force: A Discussion with the Commanding Officer of the 42nd Wing

04/11/2016
2016-04-11 By Robbin Laird During my visit to Australia in March 2016, I was able to follow up earlier discussions with 2nd Squadron with the new head of 42nd Wing to focus upon Wedgetail, its role in the integrated task force in the Middle East, and evolving the capability as…

From Deployments to the Baltic Region to Empowering the Kill Web in Defense of the Homeland: UK Evolution?

04/09/2016
2016-04-09 By Robbin Laird In a recent UK MoD announcement concerning the UK role in Baltic defense, it was announced that RAF Typhoons will be deployed along with the HMS Iron Duke. This is clearly designed to operate forward an to provide for NATO defense in the Baltic region. As…