10/12/11 by Richard Weitz Second Line of Defense was invited to send a representative on a study trip to Turkey for U.S. foreign policy specialists. The trip, which is occuring from October 7-14, included visits to Ankara, Hatay, and Istanbul and meetings with a range of government officials, academic and…
10/11/2011 U.S. and allied forces have relied significantly on various air mobility assets in Iraq and Afghanistan and protecting these assets has been crucial to mission success. Awareness of threats is a precondition for dealing with them. Coping with various manpads threats to air assets is a significant and constant…
10/11/2011 During the French operations in Afghanistan, the reconnaissance pods on the Rafael provided to be a key asset. The tactical aircraft provided dynamic targeting data and were able to work with the sea-bases to work an intervention and strike picture to guide the entire French air operation. This was…
10/11/2011 During a recent visit to Paris, Second Line of Defense sat down with Vice Admiral (Retired) Richard Wilmot-Roussel, now the naval advisor to the head of Dassault Aviation. The Vice Admiral has had a wide-ranging naval career, including being the first Commander of the French Aircraft carrier, the Charles…
10/11/2011 - by Dr. Robbin Laird During my current visit to Europe, I have had the chance to talk with French military decision makers about the Libyan operation. I have also talked with USMC officers involved in the operation. I will first look at the French experience, then at the…
10/10/11 by Robbin Laird This week we are posting some new and highlighting some earlier postings on the Libyan operation. The operation and its impacts are hardly over. Lessons learned would be premature. But insights gleaned from the operations so far as well threats spinning out of the Libyan events…
10/4/2011 by Carlo Munoz A number of sophisticated shoulder-fired missiles looted from Libyan armories have already been smuggled out of the North African country and we don't know where they've gone, a top U.S. general said today. Africa Command chief Gen. Carter Ham said his organization picked up…
By Dr. Richard Weitz 10/09/2011 - Using public data, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Washington DC think tank, analyzed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) federal prime contracts from 2004 to 2010. The analysts note that the quality of this data has improved consistently over time, especially…
