02/02/2015 By Robbin Laird During my trip to Australia last year, I had a chance to visit two new squadrons within the Royal Australian Air Force: the Wedgetail and KC-30A squadrons. Both are part of the transformation of the RAAF into a powerful, integrated medium weight air force capable of…
2015-02-02 By Ed Timperlake "We are entering an era where American dominance in key warfighting domains is eroding, and we must find new and creative ways to sustain, and in some areas expand, our advantages," Hagel said in a memo to Pentagon leaders announcing his innovation initiative. Hagel noted that while the…
2015-01-30 By Harald Malmgren The outcome of the 25 January Greek elections has been the emergence of a government led by Syriza, a new party which has committed itself to reopen all previous debt and fiscal policy commitments made by Greece to the European Union and the IMF since Greek…
2015-01-29 The Wedgetail Command and Control platform and the KC-30A MRTT aircraft are the two new Australian systems operating in Iraq which have been part of the RAAF transformation. And the Wedgetail squadron is leveraging the operational experience to expand its operational envelope. Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail Airborne…
2015-01-27 By Murielle Delaporte Editor's Note: Murielle Delaporte is embedded at sea with the NATO counter mine force discussed in this article. This interview was conducted prior to departure. NATO Allied Maritime Command’s Deputy Chief of Staff Operations, Commodore Arian Minderhoud, an overview on the evolving role of MARCOM, notably…
2015-01-26 CVN 78 is being built to support a half century of air-breathing platform innovations. The new carrier will see the UCAS, the new Hawkeye, the Osprey and the F-35C come onboard. This is the beginning of the decade ahead of innovation. But what comes next? The new catapult and landing…
2015-01-26 By Richard Weitz and Robbin Laird In his January 20 State-of-the-Union address, which focused overwhelmingly on domestic politics, President Barack Obama made a number of claims about the success of his foreign and defense policies. Among those policies cited were the following: Halting the advances of the Islamic State…
2015-01-25 In a new report by Dr. Amatzia Baram published by the Geopolitical Information Service, the question of the emergence and impact of an independent Iraqi Kurdistan is the focus of attention. The war with ISIS has given Iraqi Kurdistan the opportunity to demonstrate its strength, order and cohesiveness. What…
