When the past government and the current one underscored that the warning time for the defence of Australia has been dramatically reduced because of Chinese behavior and lack of commitment to the “rules-based order”, it seemed like a critical turning point. Only it really is not. The current government has…
By Robbin Laird As the United States faces a global overload of strategic challenges and the concomitant challenge of shaping an effective and capable force to deal with these challenges but having serious budget stringencies, leveraging the unique capabilities which the United States already possesses is crucial. It is nice…
By Robbin Laird Ed Timperlake and I are publishing a book on the MAWTS-1 training center later this year. As we note in our preface: Training for military forces is in the throes of significant change. The threats are dynamic; there is always the reactive enemy; and technology fosters new…
As the Australian government shifts the direction on building out the ADF future force, having an effective distributed ISR enterprise is a crucial element in enabling such a force. The investments the Australian government is making in the future future force underscores the need to have accurate ISR indispensable for…
By Gregor Ferguson The Australian Department of Defence’s response to the Royal Australian Navy surface fleet review, Enhanced Lethality Surface Combatant Fleet, published in February, announced the RAN would field six Large Optionally Manned Surface Vessels (LOSVs) from the 2030s to carry missile launch systems. Interestingly, the RAN program closely…
Robert Czulda NATO member states must step up their defense efforts, as Russia continues to pose a threat that persists. The time gained through Ukraine's resistance is being squandered – this was the prevailing view during Defence24Days in Warsaw, one of Europe's largest defense-related conferences. Throughout the event, held between…
By Robbin Laird The Australian government has laid out its strategy of change for the ADF in last year’s Defence Strategic Review (DSR) and in this year’s defence investment plan and national defence strategy. But frankly, deep cuts in current capability to play for the future force leaves many of…
By Robbin Laird I had a chance to talk with LtCol Howard DeCastro, the first CO of MAWTS-1 and LtGen Barry Knutson, the eighth commander of MAWTS-1, the day before the change of command ceremony at MAWTS-1. We talked about the approach of MAWTS-1 from the beginning and the importance…
