By Robbin Laird I first encountered the Osprey in 2007 in a visit to MAG-26 at New River. In that discussion with Marines, we focused on how what was referred to me early on, as the Osprey Nation, was stood up and shaped a core group of combat warriors who…
Recently, the PACFLEET Commander, Admiral Paparo, provided the keynote address at the WEST 2023 conference held in San Diego from February 14 through 16 2023. That presentation provides his perspective on joint and partner operations in the Pacific and how they are working together to address deterrence in defense. The…
By Robbin Laird To deal with the challenges in the Pacific, the United States has and will continue to have a significant shortfall in core platforms to implement a classic warfighting strategy. That is why I wrote a book with my colleagues published in 2013 entitled, Rebuilding American Military Power…
By Pierre Tran Paris - Close U.S. scrutiny of arms exports, Franco-German cooperation, and how the French procurement office is short changed are among areas considered in a report on French foreign sales of weapons by the national audit office. The head of the independent audit office approved on Jan. 24 publication…
U.S. Marines with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW), load and fire an AGM-179 Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) in support of exercise Steel Knight 23 at Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range, California, Dec. 13, 2022. The JAGM is a precision-guided munition…
By Pierre Tran Paris - France took a financial hit of €409 million ($440 million) as a result of its 2015 cancellation of the sale of two helicopter carriers to Russia, the national audit office said in its report on French arms exports. “In total, taking into account the result…
Amphibious transport dock USS Portland (LPD27) recovers the NASA Orion spacecraft, Dec. 11, 2022. Portland, along with Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Montgomery (LCS 8), operated in U.S. 3rd Fleet in support of the recovery. The retrieval operation was part of a Department of Defense effort that integrated combatant command…
Red Flag-Rescue is a joint exercise that involves other service branches as well as partner nations and is the Department of Defense’s premier combat search and rescue exercise held twice a year, hosted exclusively by Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. RF-R biannually involves multiple units within the 355th Wing, from pararescuemen…