Italian Airpower Modernization: A Discussion with the Editor of Rivista Italiana Difesa

10/09/2015
2015-10-07  By Robbin Laird During my recent trip to Italy, I had a chance to discuss with senior Italian Air Force officers the way ahead with regard to Italian airpower. The Italians, like the British, are undergoing a double transition, whereby the Eurofighter is being modernized in two ways: namely,…

Hijack for Profit: The Evolving South East Asian Piracy Model

10/08/2015
2015-10-07 By Karsten von Hoesslin,Manager of Special Projects, Risk Intelligence There are 18 networks accounted for within South East Asia and 65 upper-tier players have been identified in the author’s network analysis. Upper-tier players consist of fixers (middlemen), boarding team leaders, recruiters, forgers, so-called ‘big bosses’, and buyers. Boarding team…

2015 SACT Change of Command: The Transformation Command Faces a Transformed Strategic Environment

10/08/2015
2015-10-08 by Murielle Delaporte On September 30th, 2015, a change of command ceremony took place in Norfolk, Virginia, during which NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg presided over the official handover of the post of Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT) from General Jean-Paul Paloméros to General Denis Mercier and awarded the…

The Australians Participate in Norwegian F-35 Missile Program

10/07/2015
2015-10-07 An element of the F-35 global enterprise is the possibility for allies to collaborate among themselves on building new missiles for the platform. Meteor is clearly one example and the Norwegian maritime strike missile is another. According to a story in Australian Aviation published on September 22, 2015: The…

An Update on the Indian Rafale Contract By India Strategic

10/07/2015
2015-10-07 By Gulshan Luthra http://www.indiastrategic.in/topstories4097_Rafale_Contract_by_end_2015_says_Air_Chief_Arup_Raha.htm Dateline New Delhi and Paris In an interview with India Strategic and at remarks at his annual pre-Air Force Day briefing here October 3, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha observed that the Indian Air Force (IAF) was “terribly short” of…

Shaping a New Combat Capability for 21st Century Operations: The Coming of the F-35B to the New British Carrier

10/06/2015
2015-09-27 By Robbin Laird Earlier I have visited the Queen Elizabeth and discussed the initial approach to shaping a cross-modernization strategy for the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. The SLD team has visited the RAF based at Beaufort USMC Air Station and talked with the team there about…