STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- International security force professionals from Indonesia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mauritius, the Philippines, and Thailand participate in the Naval Small Craft Instruction and Technical Training School's (NAVSCIATTS) Patrol Craft Officer Coastal (PCOC) course during Semester 24-5. PCOC is an eight-week maritime course of instruction designed to provide…
U.S. Marine Corps Maj. David Faerber, an F-35B Lightning II pilot with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 542, talks about Exercise Razor Talon 23-1 at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, July 27, 2023. Exercise Razor Talon 23-1 was an opportunity for VMFA-542 to maintain readiness by training…
By Robbin Laird The panel on the future of vertical lift and interviews conducted by the press during the recent AUSA conference provided further insights regarding the FLRAA program and the way ahead. The conference was held from the 14-16 October in Washington D.C. Let us address first the schedule…
A Royal Australian Air Force P-8A Poseidon aircraft arrives at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, during Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024. Approximately 320 Australian Defence Force personnel have joined twenty-nine nations, 40 surface ships, three submarines, 14 national land forces, more than 150 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are…
U.S. Marines with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 268 (Reinforced), Marine Rotational Force – Darwin 24.3, shoot an M240B medium machine gun from the back of an MV-22B Osprey during a tail gunnery exercise over Mount Bundey Training Area, NT, Australia, July 11, 2024. Marines conducted the tail gunnery exercise in…
By Robbin Laird FLRAA is coming at the dawn of the age of autonomous systems. It is being crafted as a manned program to operate in the con-ops of formations that will operate in the world of combined arms operations of manned systems working with autonomous ones. The Army approach…
By Robbin Laird The Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) or the Army’s new tiltrotor aircraft is being designed to operate in a new world of combat, namely one in which autonomous systems will become significant players. I would argue indeed that when introducing new manned systems now and in the…
U.S. Marines with the maritime raid force, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, conduct special patrol insertion and extraction rigging during a helicopter rope suspension techniques sustainment exercise on Kin Blue Training Area, Okinawa, Japan, July 11, 2024. The exercise sustained the MRF’s HRST proficiency in insert and extract capabilities for the…
