2014-05-21 By Kenneth Maxwell Russian President Vladimir Putin is looking east. On a two day state visit to China, meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Putin has made the center piece of his strategy the signing of a long term 30 year natural gas supply deal with China. The talks between…
2014-05-20 by Robbin Laird Dateline: Paris, France With the return of direct defense considerations, the Western Alliance will need to focus on what needs have to be addressed and how. But has the Russian action in Crimea as well as earlier actions in Georgia raised the prospects that NATO territory…
05/19/2014: U.S. Airmen began Icelandic Air Policing operations at Keflavik International Airport, Iceland, May 16, which will continue until June 5. Credit: Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa:5/15/14 "We are excited to be back in Iceland again for Icelandic Air Policing," said Lt. Col. Lendy Renegar,…
2014-04-26 The US and its allies are shaping a deterrence in depth strategy to deal with 21st century challenges. In our book on the Pacific, we identified four key challenges shaping 21st century pacific policy: the rise of the People’s Republic of China, the emergence of North Korea within the second…
2014-05-18 by Robbin Laird Dateline: Paris, France Declaring the “Cold War” over, then President Sarkozy announced that France was going to build two amphibious ships for the Russian navy. Built on a commercial hull, the Mistral has become an important ship for the French navy, and provided significant support for…
2014-05-17 by Guy Martin With the South African-Brazilian A-Darter air-to-air missile heading for production next year, prime contractor Denel Dynamics is looking to further cooperate with Brazil in missile development, notably on the 100 km range Marlin radar-guided air-to-air weapon. The A-Darter is in its final stage of development, with…
2014-05-14 By Robbin Laird The coming of the USMC for a 6-month rotation in the training areas of Northern Australia is a concrete manifestation of the US-Australian deepening their working relationship in shaping 21st century Pacific Defense capabilities. The Aussies are engaged in significant defense modernization projects, such as the KC-30A…
2014-05-14 By Robbin Laird Since the reunification of Germany and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the defense of Europe has been largely a politically managed affair. The business at hand was shoring up the European Union and NATO arrangements to deal with the new situation, and to expand East as…
