2017-07-09 Richard Weitz Does President Trump’s budget execute the president’s nonproliferation through firmness and strength approach?. The Trump administration’s proposed FY2018 Presidential Budget Request (PBR) would allocate approximately $19 billion for the Defense Department’s nuclear enterprise, of which some $5 billion would support recapitalization, rising to $43 billion during the…
2017-07-08 By Robbin Laird Recently, I had a chance to return to RAF Lossiemouth to discuss with the Typhoon squadrons the way ahead. A key element of that way ahead is the full integration with the legacy weapons on Tornado and preparing the way for new weapons and approaches to…
2017-07-03 By Robbin Laird During my visit to RAF Lossiemouth, I had a chance to catch up with the Typhoon operational force at the base. This was an especially good time to do so as the RAF’s Typhoons have been engaged in a significant expeditionary operational tempo, ranging from Operation…
2017-07-03 By Richard Weitz According to Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, the Syrian government aborted a planned chemical strike following the administration’s threats at the beginning of the week to preempt or punish another attack. The White House warning to the Syrian government that it would “pay a heavy price”…
2017-06-30 By Robbin Laird During my March 2017 visit to RAF Lossiemouth, I had a chance to talk with two Typhoon squadrons, namely II(AC) and 6 Squadron. The squadrons have been busy in the past few months with various global engagements. In the words, of the station commander at RAF…
2017-06-29 By Robbin Laird During my visit to RAF Lossiemouth in March 2017, I got an update on the evolving experience of the Typhoon as an expeditionary force. My discussion with the Squadron Leader for II(AC) Squadron, Martin Pert, highlighted the evolving experience of II(AC) Squadron with the aircraft. Most…
2017-06-29 During a visit to Norway earlier this year, the Norwegian Deputy Minister of Defense underscored the importance of allies building new missile capabilities for the F-35 as a coalition aircraft. In the discussion with Mr. Øystein BØ, the State Secretary and Deputy Defense Minister at the Norwegian Ministry of Defense,…
2017-06-29 By Helmoed Romer Heitman Another year, another defence budget, and once again the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) is left short-changed and under-funded, as it has been for almost a quarter of a century, despite periods of high operational commitments and tempo. That mismatch between funding and commitments has…
