By Pierre Tran, Paris A planned F4 upgrade of the Rafale fighter jet will serve as technology demonstrator for network capability of the Future Combat Air System, said the Air Chief of staff, Gen. Philippe Lavigne. “Studies are fine but we need a demonstrator to see if the technology works,” Lavigne…
The Nordics are clearly working a way ahead for enhanced direct defense of their region. And they are doing so within the context of a reworking of NATO capabilities for Northern European defense. F-35 acquisition is one way the Norwegians are working this approach. The common acquisition of submarines with…
We have recently published two new Special Reports on airpower modernization. The first has focused on the Danes and their approach to airpower modernization, first with regard to their F-16s and then with regard to preparing for the F-35 transition. The second highlights several presentations and the discussion at the…
By Robbin Laird The French Air Force (FAF) is one of the most active Air Forces in the Western World. They have had significant demand on the force and have been stressed through a continual flow of operations. They are a nuclear-armed Air Force and their focus on Quick Reaction…
By Stephen Blank When the U.S. government announced it was withdrawing from the INF treaty due to Russian violations of the treaty that are now universally acknowledged, a flood of critical article immediately ensued. However, virtually none of those articles mentioned Russian nuclear strategy or policy, reflecting these commentators’ ongoing…
By Robbin Laird This year’s International Fighter Conference held in Berlin provided a chance for the participants and the attendees to focus on the role of fighters in what we have been calling the strategic shift, namely, the shift from the land wars to operating in higher intensity operations against…
By Robbin Laird I spent a good deal of the 1980s traveling within and dealing with German security issues. A key challenge in the early part of the decade was the Euromissile challenge and working common positions among European partners and with the United States to deal with Soviet intrusions…
Trident Juncture 2018 is a major NATO exercise which is focused on Northern Tier defense. It also is an exercise for the Norwegians in mobilizing their society to deal with crises in the region in which NATO forces would be called upon to operate from Norwegian soil. A key part…
