The strategic shift from the land wars to full spectrum crisis management is a very significant change. Operating against adversary forces who have full spectrum capability requires building and training a force which can prevail in a wide variety of contested environments. We have argued that shaping interactive kill webs…
There is much uncertainty in life. COVID-19 proves that. When it comes to forecasting, it would great if all the seers of the future would pause to answer this question: How well did we do in forecasting 2020 from the perspective of 2019? But one certainty is that the press…
By Robbin Laird With the return to the sea on which the USMC has been working with the US Navy over the past few years, the role of “amphibiosity” has been in evolution as well. The Bold Alligator Exercises started in 2011 and re-focused on the importance of the return…
RAAF Air Commodore Stephen Edgeley spoke recently to the virtual RAAF Airpower Conference on the Indo-Pacific Region. Originally, the conference was to be held in March 2020, but was postponed due to COVID-19. But the RAAF’s Airpower Development Centre has moved ahead with a virtual conference, consisting of the core presentations…
By Robbin Laird As noted earlier, a key contribution which the USMC can provide for the joint and coalition force is afloat or ashore is mobile and expeditionary basing. In an earlier article, built around a discussion with Lieutenant Colonel Barron, ADT&E Department Head at MAWTS-1, we focused on what…
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…
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…
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…
