By Robbin Laird Ed Timperlake and I are working on book to be published next year on MAWTS-1, the unique USMC training center. As LtGen (Retired) Rudder has noted: "We need to avoid smoke and mirrors. The talking points from a wargame or ideas from force design planners may sound…
On January 5, 2024 the paperback version of Defense XXIII: America Faces a Very Different World was published. And on January 8, 2024 the e-book version of the book was released. This book looks at the challenge for the liberal democracies competing in a world of multi-polar authoritarian nations and…
It is clear that autonomous systems can provide significant enhancements for current operating forces. As Commodore Darron Kavanagh, Director General Warfare Innovation, Royal Australian Navy Headquarters, has noted: “we have shown through various autonomous warrior exercises, that we can already make important contributions to mission threads which combat commanders need…
An unmanned aircraft system, the RQ-21A "Blackjack," assigned to Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 3, conducts its final flight, Landing Zone Westfield, Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, May 24, 2022. U.S. Marines with VMU-3 conducted the RQ-21A "Blackjack" final flight to recognize its four years of…
By Richard Weitz Threats to the U.S. homeland will remain elevated into 2024. The Gaza War will likely inspire transnational terrorism, the Strategic Posture Commission highlights the expanding long-range missile arsenal of America’s adversaries, and further severe weather emergencies and cyber attacks against critical U.S. networks seem likely. U.S. policy makers must take measures now…
By Robbin Laird When I first dealt with fifth generation aircraft, I focused on how the F-22 and a relatively expansive global enterprise of F-35s would re-norm airpower, or re-set the baseline for what would be expected from the fighter element of the air combat enterprise. This was above all…
By Pierre Tran Paris - A parliamentary report on counter-drone systems is due to appear this month, pointing up shortfalls in the military Parade program, critical for the 2024 Olympic Games in the French capital, senator Cédric Pérrin said Dec. 14, 2023. “I take the view that our anti-drone campaign,…
A U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper, assigned to the 432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing lands on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, August 22, 2023. The landing of this particular MQ-9, a remotely piloted aircraft, marks the first time that an Air Force MQ-9 has landed on the Marine Corps…
