2017-09-14 By Robbin Laird and Harald Malmgren Putting President Trump and European Union leaders together on the same page may seem an anomaly. The love the President has for baiting the EU is only matched by European transatlantic assertion of European values and interests against American “revanchism.” In the real…
09/25/2017: An Australian Defence Force (ADF) Joint Task Group, Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2017, has departed Sydney to participate in a series of key military exercises throughout the Indo-Pacific region. Running from September to November, Indo-Pacific Endeavour will focus on enhancing military cooperation with some of Australia’s key regional partners including Indonesia, Japan,…
09/25/2017: Two KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport aircraft were together at the main air operating base in the Middle East region recently to conduct a routine aircraft ‘tailswap’. The aircraft, flown in by crews from its home unit, No. 33 Squadron, will begin its service as part of the Air Task Group…
09/25/2017: Monday Sep. 18, Commander, U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) Adm. Harry Harris met with Australian Minister of Defence Marise Payne, at Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii. Adm. Harris welcomed the Minister’s first visit to PACOM headquarters. During Adm. Harris’ most recent trip to Australia last June, he participated with Minister Payne in…
09/25/2017: U.S. Marines with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron VMM 268, nicknamed the “Red Dragons,” return from a six-month deployment to Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Sept. 19, 2017. The “Red Dragons” supported the Australian Defence Force (ADF) as the aviation combat element for the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF). Crossing over 5,300…
2017-09-13 By Robbin Laird The UK has announced its new shipbuilding strategy, one which seeks to leverage the modularity approach introduced by building the new Queen Elizabeth class carriers. Now the First Sea Lord has addressed the question of the role of the maritime sector in generating broader defense transformation.…
2017-09-22 The USS America is the new kid on the block in terms of amphibious warfare. It has been joined in the Alligator Dagger by another new kid on the block as well, the aviation modified support ship, the USNS Puller. USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB-3), (formerly USNS Lewis B. Puller (T-ESB-3)), (formerly T-MLP-3/T-AFSB-1) is the…
2017-09-13 USS Abraham Lincoln, the first US Navy aircraft carrier capable of accommodating the F-35C Lightning II, welcomed the fifth-generation jet fighter on board earlier this month. The “Grim Reapers” of Strike Fighter Squadron 101 (VFA 101), the training squadron for the F-35C, joined the USS Abraham Lincoln while underway on…