Geography, Presence and a 21st Century Pacific Strategy

09/29/2012
2012-09-29 By Robbin Laird As the United States and its allies deal with the various challenges in the Pacific, including enhanced PRC capabilities and assertiveness, geography has a significant impact. As Robert Kaplan has recently underscored, geography remains significant as an explainer for the world’s conflicts as well as bounding…

Russia as a Pacific Power: Tensions with Japan

08/30/2012
2012-08-30 By Richard Weitz Relations between Russia and Japan have remained strained throughout the post-Soviet period. Despite the end of the Cold War, Moscow and Tokyo have been unable to resolve their territorial dispute over what the Russians call the Southern Kurils and the Japanese label their Northern Territories. The 1875…

The Challenge of Defending the Littorals

08/26/2012
2012-08-26 by Robbin Laird The Pacific is a big place. It often either not understood and not reflected upon the scope and nature of the Pacific region.  This is not the Mediterranean; this is not the Indian Ocean; this is not even the Atlantic. As Ed Timperlake put it clearly: The…

Extending the Honeycomb: Transformation Re-visited

11/10/2011
11/10/2011 By Michael Wynne If one recalls the history of the transformation movement, it became embraced by then candidate Bush in his speech at the Citadel and then he followed through on the speech as president. The calls for a revolution in military affairs now became defense transformation. In all…

Secretary Panetta on the Pacific and The Threat of the Hollow Force

10/29/2011
10/29/2011 In his recent speech in South Korea, the Sec Def made a powerful case for centrality of the Pacific and of coalitions and the danger of a hollow force.  I n a recent open letter to the Secretary, we provided some ideas of how to avoid the hollow force and…

Pacific Strategy XI: The Role of the Surface Fleet

10/27/2011
10/27/2011 We have discussed three surface combatants earlier: the LCS, Aegis and the CVN and have integrated these platforms into a discussion of the interaction between presence and scalability.  Here the focus is upon other surface combatants and their roles in the way ahead. If one is focusing upon littoral…

Pacific Strategy X: ISR Services to the Honeycomb

10/24/2011
10/24/2011 - As the presence forces operate in the Pacific from the Arctic to Australia, a key enabler will be the ISR inputs or services which support and enhance deployed decision-making centers, whether in the combat aircraft of the 5th generation or by the ships and longer-range strike assets. The…

Pacific Strategy IX: Inserting the UCAS Into Maritime Operations

10/23/2011
10/23/2011 - A key development for the evolution of U.S. Pacific operations will be the use of new remotely piloted vehicles as part of the C4ISR capabilities.  So called-unmanned systems are clearly not that; but are an important part of extending the reach and persistence of the strike and reconnaissance…