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…
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The HMS Queen Elizabeth and Crafting the Way Ahead for Its Initial Deployment

06/15/2018By Robbin Laird The coming of the HMS Queen Elizabeth to the UK combat force is a trigger for significant defense transformation. Most of the analysis of the… Read more »

Working the Way Ahead for the USMC: How MAWTS-1 Supports Change

06/13/2018By Robbin Laird During my latest visit to MAWTS-1, I had a chance to focus upon recent developments generated by the latest WTI course. Last year, I had… Read more »

VMFA-121 At Misawa Air Base

06/13/2018Marine Aircraft Group 12 forces deployed several F-35B Lightning ll’s for a regularly scheduled aviation training relocation at Misawa Air Base, Japan, May 9, 2018.  ATR’s are designed… Read more »

VMFA-121 Works Standard Ordinance Evolution

06/12/2018Marines from the ordnance section of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121, Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, load inert explosives into an F-35B Lightning II as… Read more »

RAAF’s F-35s Complete 1000th Sortie

06/10/2018RAAF personnel at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, reach a flying milestone as the Australian F-35As complete their first 1000 sorties.  The RAAF F-35A team are working together… Read more »

The Arrival of the F-35s at RAF Marham: The Dambusters Return

06/08/2018The arrival of the first F-35s from the United States to Britain on June 6, 2018 to their operating base at RAF Marham required a change in the… Read more »

Norwegian Updates on The Standup of Their F-35s

06/05/2018On May 22, 2018, three additional F-35s arrived at Ørland Air Base in Norway. According to a Norwegian Ministry of Defence press release dated May 23, 2018: Six… Read more »

The Allied Dimension in Play: The US Navy Selects the Naval Strike Missile

06/03/2018By Robbin Laird Last week, the Pentagon announced that Raytheon has won a $14.8 million contract to purchase the Naval Strike Missile for the Littoral Combat Ship and… Read more »

The USMC Shapes a Way Ahead: The Perspective of the Commanding Officer of MAWTS-1

06/01/2018By Robbin Laird MAWTS-1 plays a unique role within the USMC and in the joint force. In our book on the reshaping of Pacific strategy and the role… Read more »