By Robbin Laird During my visit to Germany in February 2019, I had a chance to talk with a number of retired senior Bundeswehr officers and procurement officials. My focus is upon the challenge facing the US and its NATO allies to rebuild their forces to be able to have…
By Robbin Laird For the last three years, I have traveled extensively in Northern Europe to discuss the Russian challenge and the return of direct defense. During a visit to Germany in February 2019, I am visiting Germany to discuss with German experts and retired senior German military, their assessments…
In the latest Strategic Insights Report, we address the question of the way ahead with regard to a European Future Combat Air System. As part of the revival of the Franco-German working relationship, the two governments have proposed to shape a future combat air system to replace both the Rafale…
By Ed Timperlake The Trump Administration has clearly indicated that it is working a strategic shift away from the land wars to crisis management with peer competitors. The focus has been upon a return of great power competition. But it this will be difficult to do in terms of resources…
By Robbin Laird In visits to the Nordics over the past few years, we have been looking at the return of direct defense and the challenges facing Northern Europe with the shaping of a new Russian challenge. This challenge is hybrid, nuclear and direct. We have looked as well at…
Late last year, the UK Ministry of Defence provided an update on its 2015 report on defense modernization. As one commentator put it with regard to the report: A combination of strained alliances and ever-expanding political demands explains the MOD’s determination to secure funds to rebuild UK military capability. After…
By Murielle Delaporte When the French minister of the armed forces, Florence Parly, visited the heart of space technology in Toulouse last September, she stressed how much space has become over the past years a key domain for national security. She noted that the Russian satellite Luch-Olymp had recently been…
By Ed Timperlake There is a great US Navy quip about a surface combatant : “Captain we are underway with no way on.” This saying is essentially reporting that the ship is trying to go forward but it is stopped by currents or other forces and drifting. In a very…
