Re-designing Supply Chains: The Australian Case

05/23/2022
By Gil Savage Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, we’re more aware of the weaknesses of globalisation and the flaws of managing supply and demand through just-in-time practices. The problem is clear for Australia’s policymakers, but the solution less so. Some hanker for a return to 1970s-style Australian manufacturing, forgetting it…

Macron’s Strasbourg Speech: Shaping a Way Ahead for Europe in the Face of the War in Ukraine

05/21/2022
By Pierre Tran Paris - President Emmanuel Macron called May 9 in a keynote speech in the European parliament at Strasbourg, eastern France, for a broader European defense and security community, a political project made all the more pressing by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Macron called for setting up…

Distributed Operations and Heavy-Lift: Connecting the Dots and Sustaining the Force

05/20/2022
By Robbin Laird During my recent visit to MAWTS-1, I had a chance to talk with two Marine Corps officers with significant experience in working force distribution and sustainment issues with USMC heavy lift assets. With the coming of the CH-53K, the capability of the USMC to work distributed operations,…

How Finland and Sweden Joining NATO Would Impact NATO

05/18/2022
According a recently posted video by The Wall Street Journal on May 16, 2022, the subject was addressed of how the two states joining NATO would impact the organization.  We have focused for several years on how the Nordic defense dynamics are part of the reshaping od direct defense…

Next Step in Australian and Japanese Interoperability: KC-30 Refueling of F-2

05/18/2022
In a story published by the Australian Department of Defence on April 29, 2022, the RAAF was noted as achieving a new milestone in its refueling of a Japanese fighter aircraft. For the first time, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has conducted air-to-air refuelling flight testing with the Japan…

A Canadian Perspective on the Biden Administration and the Russo-Ukrainian War

05/17/2022
By LGen (ret) Michel Maisonneuve U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited Kyiv on April 24th to provide support and highlight the determination of the U.S. to stand with Ukraine as Russia’s invasion continues its attempt to conquer a free country. Austin stated “We want to see Russia weakened so that it…

ADF and Allied Perspectives on the Way Ahead for Force Modernization

05/15/2022
On March 24, 2022, the Williams Foundation held its first of two seminars to be held this year. The seminar was the latest in a series of seminars which started in 2014, and have been focused on the evolution of the ADF to deal with the evolving threats and challenges…

Training for Enhanced Lethality and Survivability

05/10/2022
By Robbin Laird I recently finished my latest report for The Williams Foundation on their March 24, 2022, seminar which focused on shaping a way ahead for the integrated networked force. The moderator for the seminar was John Conway, a noted Australian defense analyst and former RAF officer. In his…