The Why for the Norwegian F-35 Decision: The Arctic Dimension

06/15/2012
6/15/12: by Robbin Laird I personally have done quite a lot of work on Arctic security.  And in the course of working on the Arctic and dealing with Norwegians, Canadians and Danes, the F-35 and in the Norwegian case the Aegis systems came into play as well.  And in a…

A Congressional Staffer Perspective on the F-35: “Build Planes and Get Them into the Hands of the Warfighters”

06/15/2012
A key member of the panel at the Heritage Foundation event on the F-35 and allies was Anthony “Lazer” Lazarski, 
Military Legislative Assistant, Office of Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK).  Lazarski is a former USAF officer with operational experience in several type model series of aircraft, and a very knowledgeable practitioner…

Japan to Purchase First 4 F-35As, June 2012

06/15/2012
Parliamentary Senior Vice-Minister of Defense, Shu Watanabe, revealed at the House of Representatives Security Council that Japan and the U.S. would seal a contract to purchase first four F-35s before June 30. Both Governments have almost agreed on the unit price 10.2 billion JPY, 300 million JPY higher than the…

Shaping a 21st Century U.S. Military

06/13/2012
6/13/12: By Robbin Laird [caption id="attachment_40496" align="alignnone" width="300"] Both the right and the left believe in realities that no longer exist. We could not do the 1991 air war today; we cannot man the oceans or provide for global presence with a maritime force operational NOW and planned for the…

Israel’s Deployment of Nuclear Missiles on Subs from Germany

06/12/2012
6/12/12: The pride of the Israeli navy is rocking gently in the swells of the Mediterranean, with the silhouette of the Carmel mountain range reflected on the water's surface. To reach the Tekumah, you have to walk across a wooden jetty at the pier in the port of Haifa, and then…

Sierra Nevada Sues the USAF: Super Tucano Showing Up in Afghanistan?

06/12/2012
6/12/12: By Ed Timperlake In the same week that Second Line of Defense’s own Murielle Delaporte returned from Afghanistan with the dead and wounded from a recent Taliban terrorist attack on the French forces, a lawsuit was filed against the Secretary of the US Air Force. https://www.sldinfo.com/with-the-french-forces-in-afghanistan-at-crucial-point-of-transition/ How are these…

Sustaining a Forward Presence: The Military Sealift Command

06/12/2012
by Robbin Laird In a series of articles for AOL Defense, I am going to look at several elements of re-shaping U.S. forces to enable an Asian pivot.  And intend to look at several neglected aspects of a sustainable power projection force for the 21st century. The U.S. can afford…