Williamtown Airbase Operations, 2020

06/02/2020
We have visited Williamtown Airbase in Australia several times in the past and look forward to future visits. In this posting, we highlight recent flight operations from Williamtown Airbase as seen in the slideshow below. The base is transitioning from a Hornet to an F-35 base which certainly can be…

New Appointee Delineates Trump’s Nuclear Arms Control Vision

06/01/2020
By Richard Weitz In his first public speech on U.S. arms control policy, the newly appointed Special Presidential Envoy for Arms Control, Marshall Billingslea, offered more details on the administration’s general approach toward the issue, particularly concerns about “unconstrained” warheads and verification. Billingslea has also been nominated to be the…

Working Mobile Basing: Defining the Challenge

05/31/2020
By Robbin Laird The USMC has mobile basing in its DNA. With the strategic shift from the Middle Eastern land wars to full spectrum crisis management, an ability to distribute a force but to do so with capabilities which allow it to be integratable is crucial. For the Marines, this…

The Coming of the Air Warfare Destroyer to Australia: A Key Maritime Kill Web Building Block

05/31/2020
By Robbin Laird, Williams Foundation Research Fellow Recently, the third and final Air Warfare destroyer, appropriately named HMAS Sydney was commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy. This was a very significant moment on many levels for Australia and for its allies in the Asia-Pacific region. For this is not just…

Working Expeditionary Basing: MAWTS-1 and the F-35

05/29/2020
By Robbin Laird Over the past few weeks, I have been discussing with USAF and U.S. Navy officers, how the two services are training to shape greater synergy with regard to the integrated distributed force. The fusing of multiple sensors via a common interactive self-healing web enhances the ability of…

The Strategic Shift and Dynamic Targeting: Meeting the Challenge

05/28/2020
By Robbin Laird With the strategic shift from the land wars to the more fluid battlespace involving peer competitors engaged in full spectrum crisis management with the United States and its allies, one aspect of the change for military forces is how to use lethal force effectively. This comes down…

The Return of Direct Defense in Europe and Political Warfare: A Canadian Perspective

05/27/2020
A key part of the direct defense challenge being faced in Europe today is political warfare with the 21st century authoritarian powers. And a key policy instrument being used by both Russia and China WITHIN European states is disinformation guided by an ability to connect that disinformation with the defense…