The 40th Anniversary of the Falklands War: ‘Global’ Britain and Reality

06/22/2022
By Kenneth Maxwell On 14 June 2022, the UK remembered the 40 year anniversary of the Falklands War. Looking back provides insights as well with regard to the state of "global" Britain. In the age of the Brexiters self-proclaimed “global Britain’ two very distinguished British historians, the late Michael Howard…

China’s Informal Empire in Latin America: The Challenge for the Biden Administration

06/18/2022
China has focused under the regime of President Xi on building out its global informal empire. By trade and investment, China has become a key player in Africa and Latin America. Its practices in doing so have a number of questionable dimensions, but instead of highlighting the reality of Chinese…

The Shaping of Amphibious Task Forces Within a Wider Maritime Kill Web Force

06/17/2022
By Robbin Laird The evolution of the amphibious force and shaping amphibious task forces can contribute significantly to expanded capabilities for maneuver warfare at sea. By leveraging the new air capabilities, adding new defensive and offensive systems on the fleet, and expanding the C2 and ISR capabilities of the fleet,…

Australia and France: New Governments and Next Steps

06/14/2022
By Pierre Tran Paris - Australia seeks to calm troubled waters by paying shipbuilder Naval Group (NG) €555 million (US $581 million) for sinking a large French submarine deal, with Canberra pledging to resume close relations with Paris. That desire to be mates again with France follows the Australian Labor…

Unmanned Integration at Sea: A Perspective on Task Force 59

06/13/2022
By Robbin Laird We are working on a longer term effort examining how autonomous systems can be integrated into fleet operations. Most analysis of the way ahead with regard to maritime unmanned, remote or autonomous systems has focused on the challenge of shaping acceptance of trusted autonomous systems, which makes…

From the Amphibious Force to Expeditionary Seabasing: Supporting Mobile Basing as a Strategic Capability

06/12/2022
By Robbin Laird I have argued that under the impact of the Osprey and the F-35B, the ARG-MEU is evolving into something more akin to a modular amphibious task force. As the U.S. Navy works ways to more effectively integrate such a development with the wider fleet, the emergence of…