Featured Article

09/29/2025
By Robbin Laird Modern warfare has reached an inflection point. As technology accelerates and battlespaces become increasingly complex, military aviation faces a fundamental truth: the next generation of military superiority will belong not to those with the most aircraft, but to those who make the smartest investments in their human capital. The recent insights from Tom Webster of Textron Aviation Defense illuminate this reality with striking clarity -- the future belongs to forces that can…
Read More >>

Wedgetail at 10

05/06/2020By Bettina Mears Important Defence industry partnerships and a culture of excellence have been key to the operational effectiveness of Air Force’s highly advanced airborne early warning and… Read more »

The Maritime Patrol Enterprise: Shaping a Kill Web Future

05/05/2020By Robbin Laird I have had a chance to visit with Rear Admiral Garvin and his team in Norfolk last Fall and earlier this year. We discussed the… Read more »

The New Build Australian Attack Submarine: Putting It Into Context

05/05/2020By Robbin Laird Recently, I finished a study of the new build offshore patrol vessel and the shaping of a new template for shipbuilding in Australia. This is… Read more »

The Evolving Role of Rotary Wing Platforms in the Integratable Carrier Air Wing

05/01/2020By Robbin Laird During my last meeting with Vice Admiral Miller in San Diego, we discussed the way ahead with regard to the air wing as it become… Read more »

A Small Ship but a Significant Shift

04/30/2020By Robbin Laird When I first came to Australia in 2014, I was asked to write a report for the Williams Foundation on their seminar on the evolution… Read more »

Software, Operations, Training and Development: Working the New Combat Cycle for a Kill Web Force

04/26/2020By Robbin Laird One of the changes facing the emergence of the kill web force is recognizing that it is already here. The current situation reminds one of… Read more »

Laying a Foundation for the Shift from Building Interoperability Platform by Platform to Integratability Via Wave Form Management

04/23/2020By Robbin Laird In a continuing discussion with the digital interoperability team in USMC Aviation’s Headquarters, we focused on the challenge of building beyond specific platform upgradeability to… Read more »

The AH-1Z and Its Evolving Contribution to Marines in the Maritime Fight

04/15/2020By Robbin Laird My recent discussions with Major Thomas Duff and Mr. Michael Manifor, HQMC Aviation, APW-53, Attack and Utility Helicopter Coordinators, about the Viper maritime attack helicopter… Read more »

Platforms, Innovation and Integratability: The Case of the Osprey

04/14/2020By Robbin Laird In my series focusing on USMC and digital interoperability, the first piece focused on the interaction between platform innovation and integratability. With the evolution of… Read more »