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…

The “Five Eyes” and Managing Strategic Dependency on China

05/26/2020
Our colleague John Blackburn has highlighted the publication of a new report published by the Henry Jackson Society, based in London. A new report by a UK Think Tank, the Henry Jackson Society, addresses the supply chain dependence on China by the "Five-Eye" powers. Of the five powers, Australia is…

Memorial Day, May 25, 2020: A Turkish Colleague’s Perspective

05/25/2020
All over the world, at different tough geographies, there are immortal signatures of U.S. soldiers and their friends to let the democracy, human rights, and justice become sovereign over the countries and the people. This is the day we all remember of those ones as President Reagan said " Heroes…