7/5/12: by Richard Weitz The Russians are increasingly concerned with Chinese nuclear forces and their growth. The recent U.S. release of a paper by Russian General Viktor Yesin, a former chief of staff of Russia’s Strategic Rocket Forces, on “China’s Nuclear Potential,” which calculates that China probably has between 1,600…
7/4/12: On Tuesday, June 26, 2012, the Hudson Institute hosted a lunchtime talk of former senior military officers and civilian national security policy makers to discuss security developments in Europe and Afghanistan. Among the guests were Lieutenant General (retired) Jean-Patrick Gaviard, French civilian strategists Olivier Zajec and Murielle Delaporte, and…
7/3/12: by Robbin Laird During the U.S. tanker competition, one journalist made the comment that this was simply a competition about a gas station in the sky. This comment revealed only partial understanding of what a modern air tanker can bring to operations. The A330 MRTT tanker as a fleet…
7/1/12: by Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake In a recent report by The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, the evolving threat to U.S. space capabilities was highlighted. “China is pressing forward with an ambitious counterspace program, including a ground- and space-based space surveillance systems, electronic warfare capabilities, and kinetic kill…
7/1/12: by Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake Much of the Inside the Beltway debate about the F-35 revolves around the program as if it were simply building a replacement tactical aircraft PLATFORM. In reality, the program was established to manufacture a global product in significant numbers to enable a global…
6/29/12: In mid- June 2012, Second Line of Defense talked with Victor Gervais, a young French researcher who recently published his dissertation on the UAE military. Gervais had just returned from a two-week visit to the UAE when we discussed with him his perspectives on how the UAE leadership was…
6/29/12: By Robbin Laird By building on the F-35 and leveraging its capabilities, the U.S. and its allies can build the next phase of power projection within affordable limits. U.S. forces need to become more agile, flexible, and global in order to work with allies and partners to deal with…
06/28/12: Has the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code (ISPS Code) prevented the expansion of organized crime, and reduced the threat to maritime shipping and to society by extension? Activity in US ports and major regional ports such as Australia and Canada suggest a mixed picture. In some ways,…
