The Way Ahead for the Danish Navy in the Nordic and North Atlantic Context: The Perspective of Rear Admiral Torben Mikkelsen

10/26/2022
By Robbin Laird I had a chance to discuss maritime issues with Rear Admiral Torben Mikkelsen both in Copenhagen during my visit in June 2022 and at the Euronaval exposition in Paris during the week of October 16, 2022. He has been Admiral Danish Fleet Commander since 2017 and recently…

Sustainment at the Point of Operational Relevance: Aligning the U.S. Navy’s Osprey Sustainment Approach with Operations in the Contested Battlespace

10/24/2022
By Robbin Laird In my recent article on the CMV-22B coming to the carrier, I highlighted the importance of ramping up the CMV-22B buy to enable the kinds of support needed for a distributed fleet in a contested environment. I also noted that “the synergies between the Navy and the…

Exercise Trident Completed

10/23/2022
By Captain Carla Armenti A combined maritime task group comprised of Australian and Singaporean warships and troops has completed Exercise Trident. Three warships and over 1600 people were involved in the exercise, a continued commitment to bilateral joint military exercises under the 2015 Singapore-Australia Comprehensive Partnership. The exercise came to an…

How to Ramp Up ADF Capabilities in the Near Term? A Perspective from Anduril Australia

10/21/2022
By Robbin Laird In his presentation to the Williams Foundation seminar held on September 28, 2022, the head of Force Design in the Australian Department of Defence, MAJGEN Anthony Rawlins, addressed directly the question of how the ADF could realistically and effectively ramp up its capabilities in the mid-term. This…

Shaping a Way Ahead for Australian Defence: It is Not Just About ADF Modernization

10/21/2022
By Robbin Laird After the Williams Foundation Seminar held on September 28, 2022, I had a chance to discuss some of the takeaways with regard to the way ahead for Australian defence with my colleague Air Vice-Marshal (Retired) John Blackburn. We started by focusing on how in reshaping the ADF…

Following up with Dr. Alan Dupont: Shaping a Way Ahead for Australian Defence

10/20/2022
By Robbin Laird Dr. Dupont provided the launch presentation for the recent Williams Foundation Seminar held on September 28, 2022. That seminar focused on key questions and challenges facing the ADF as it addressed the shift to focus primarily on the direct defense of Australia. In his presentation, Dupont provided…

France and the War Economy: The Perspective of Thales

10/19/2022
By Pierre Tran Paris - The arms industry and the armed forces ministry are holding talks on how to share the financial risk of building up stocks of weapons, as France moves toward what it calls a war economy after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “Who takes on the commercial…