By Robbin Laird During my time in Canberra during August 2018, one key point of conversation was the question of the impact of the evolution of Europe on Australian policies, and policy flexibility. The uncertainty hanging over Europe with regard to Brexit and the UK’s role in Europe, plus the…
By Robbin Laird On August 23, 2018, the Williams Foundation in Canberra, Australia held its latest seminar on military modernization. This seminar focused on the evolution of joint strike and the importance for Australia to develop an independent deterrent. One of the key elements of discussion was the evolving nature…
By Robbin Laird On August 23, 2018, the Williams Foundation held its latest seminar, this one on independent strike. The seminar represents a next phase of examination of the way ahead for the ADF. Over the past five years, the seminars have focused on the introduction of the F-35 and…
We have focused for some time on the question of the return of the nuclear issue for US and allied defense. Our colleague, Paul Bracken, has forcefully focused on this issue in his work on the second nuclear age, and his work has certainly underscored the forceful return of the…
By Robbin Laird We have argued for more than a decade that leveraging fifth generation aircraft allowed for the re-norming of airpower. With the evolution of the F-35 and with the buy of the aircraft by several key allies, those allies are starting to introduce the aircraft into their forces,…
Karelia Air Command conducts Air-to-Air Refueling (AAR) training for F/A-18 pilots in cooperation with the 100th Air Refueling Wing, United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), from 11 to 13 September. In total 8-14 F/A-18 Hornet multi-role fighters from Karelia, Lapland and Satakunta Air Commands will participate in the training.…
By Robbin Laird When one thinks of defense infrastructure, a key element is the people in the force and the infrastructure, manufacturing, science, technology, and engineering that support it. But clearly, having a dedicated committed and capable pool of recruits both into the support structure and the force is absolute…
By Richard Weitz In late August, 2018 the Chinese Foreign Ministry published its position paper regarding the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, which will run from September 18 and October 5 in New York. In this document, Beijing has again professed concern about the militarization of space—somewhat awkwardly…
