By Pierre Tran Paris - The French Air Force has requested a faster delivery of Rafale jets to replace the Mirage 2000-5 fighters due to be sent to Ukraine, the air chief of staff, General Jérôme Bellanger, told the Association des Journalistes Defense, a press club, on November 20, 2024.…
The Indians are building new nuclear submarines as well as a new base to enhance their maritime capabilities. This is clearly in response to China coming into the Indian backyard and shaping Chinese access to ports in the region and frequent military presence in such ports to expand their influence.…
We have recently published several articles which deal with the challenge of the Ukrainian war on global security. One article analyzes the implications of Donald Trump's 2024 presidential election victory on the ongoing war in Ukraine. The articles explore differing perspectives on a potential negotiated settlement, contrasting the approaches of…
Next year, I am publishing a book on the tiltrotor enterprise. I have been interviewing and engaging with Marines using the aircraft since 2007, the first time I flew on the aircraft. There seems to be a cottage industry of folks writing about the difficulty of flying the aircraft and…
By Robbin Laird I had a chance to visit Fleet Logistics Multi-Mission Squadron (VRM) 40 the “Mighty Bison” on Oct. 29, 2024. Earlier, I visited West Coast squadrons at North Island, San Diego, but this was my first opportunity to visit the squadron at Naval Station Norfolk. This squadron will play…
By Robbin Laird I attended the Euronaval exposition held in Paris the week of November 3, 2024. I had a chance to visit the Finnish booth at the show and watch the launch of their report on Finnish technologies in the Baltic Sea presented to the show. And then I…
By Pierre Tran Paris - Companies around the world have noted the significance of the uncrewed surface vehicle (USV), or sea drone, as could be seen at Euronaval, an international trade show for every kind of military vessel and maritime kit, which ran Nov. 4-7. The market potential for the…
By Robbin Laird In writing our book on the maritime kill web, a key point we emphasized was that payload innovation was a key driver to enhanced and viable combat capability. Rather than focusing force design on next generation platforms, a key focus now was to focus on rapid insertion…
