By Robbin Laird On May 14, 2024, I visited 2nd Marine Air Wing to have the opportunity to speak with the Commanding General of the Wing, MajGen Scott Benedict. This was two days before the change of command and his subsequent retirement after a distinguished career in the Marine Corps…

By Robbin Laird I have been coming to Australia since 2014 to participate in and write the seminar reports for the Sir Richard Williams Foundation. What started out as a Foundation focusing primarily on airpower has transitioned over that period to focusing on shaping the ADF as an integrated force,…

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…

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 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 An aspect of modern Western strategic thinking has been a focus on gray zone conflict. This is an area I have always found confusing. In a world which I would characterize as one of the rise of multi-polar authoritarian movements and states, their constant conflict efforts have…

At the April 11, 2024 Williams Foundation seminar, the former head of the Air Warfare Center and now Director General for Air Combat Capability, Air Commodore Ross Bender, addressed the way ahead for the RAAF in dovetailing with the new strategic focus of the Australian government. Bender noted that the…