By David Beaumont National Defence: Defence Strategic Review was released to the public on 24 April 2023, to a defence ‘community’ only too eager to scrutinise the document for its consequences on the ADF’s capability mix. The paper, of course, covers a swathe of topics and concepts. It describes the reasons…
U.S. Marines have left a mark on the U.S. territory of Guam since the beginning of the 20th century, contributing to regional stability by serving as an enduring symbol of the continued partnership between the Marine Corps and the government of Guam. When Marines first landed on the Pacific island…
By Robbin Laird During my visit to Honolulu during the last week of April 2023, I had a chance to meet with Rear Admiral Jeffrey Jablon, the Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet (SUBPAC) commander. We disscused the evolving role of the submarine fleet in the challenging environment of the Pacific.…
By Robbin Laird During my March-April 2023 visit to Australia. I had a chance to meet with Air Vice-Marshal Michael Kitcher, Deputy Chief Joint Operations (DCJOPS) and to talk with him about the Joint Operations Focus on regional defence after a long period in the Middle East. AVM Kitcher is…
U.S. Army Soldiers with 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), improve their skills on the newly updated unmanned aerial vehicle, RQ-11B or “The Raven”, in Smardan, Romania, 16 Jan. 2023. The Raven’s purpose is to be used for reconnaissance missions, call-for-fire missions…
By Robbin Laird If you are looking at the potential role of maritime autonomous systems from the standpoint of traditional acquisition approaches, the legacy concept of platforms, and are not focused on the priority for software transient advantage in modern warfighting, then you will totally miss what the coming of…
U.S. Air Force 27th Fighter Generation Squadron prepares F-22s for a night operations flight during the Red Flag 22-3 exercise at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, July 13, 2022. Crew chiefs and maintainers worked diligently overnight to prepare F-22 Raptors for the pilots to safely fly during a routine night…
By Robbin Laird In an earlier discussion with David Beaumont, I focused on the challenge facing the ADF of managing what I called the strategic triangle for force enablement. That triangle is conceptualized in the featured graphic for this article. At the core of the triangle is the challenge of…
