An Update on the Impact of the Coronavirus Crisis on French Defense Industry: April 23, 2020

04/23/2020
By Pierre Tran Paris - Naval Group seeks to cut costs in a “savings plan” and conserve cash in response to a slowdown in shipbuilding due to the Codevi 19 crisis, the company said. “While the productive activity of all Naval Group’s shipyards has been reduced, Naval Group is launching…

Working the Rugged Internet of Things at the Tactical Edge

04/22/2020
By Robbin Laird In a famous line from Molière’s play Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, the aspiring social climber in the play discovers that: "For more than forty years I have been speaking prose while knowing nothing of it, and I am the most obliged person in the world to you for…

Libyan Shoot-down of Turkish UAVs Using UAE Air Defense Systems?

04/21/2020
by defenceWeb It appears the Pantsir-S1 air defence systems delivered by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Libya have been used to shoot down over a dozen Turkish unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This is according to unverified reports from the Libyan National Army (LNA), which said the Pantsir-S1 has destroyed…

Norway Releases its Long Term Defence Plan, 2020: Resilience as a Core Defense Capability

04/20/2020
On April 17, 2020, the Norwegian government released its Long Term Defence Plan. The plan reaffirmed Norway’s commitment to increased defense spending and joint force modernization. But it also underscored the continued efforts on national resilience which the current Coronavirus-19 crisis has underscored as a key requirement for national defense…

Shaping a Way Ahead on Military Strategy: The Need for Strategic Coherence

04/19/2020
By Robbin Laird With a growing array of single service initiatives designed to compete for “deterrence badges” in the great power competition, there is a clear danger of splintering deterrence rather than reinforcing it. In my recent discussion with Dr. Paul Bracken, the nuclear weapons expert, underscored the key importance…

The Royal Australian Navy Works Their MH-60R ‘Romeos’ Across Their Fleet

04/19/2020
MH-60R ‘Romeo’ helicopter may not be a stealth platform, but it has become a globally used platform by the US Navy and U.S. allies and has done so in barely noticed fashion. Globally is a key aspect of a platform, even with different systems onboard common platforms, common logistics and…

NATO and the Coronavirus Crisis: An Input to Crisis Management Learning

04/18/2020
By Robbin Laird NATO and the European Union are the two European alliances which provide multi-lateral responses to crises within Europe. Clearly, a health care driven crisis such as the coronavirus crisis falls largely in the province of the individual European nations and the shared sovereignty which is delegated to…