Operations, innovation and training: A discussion with the commander of CSG-4
Columnist Robbin Laird talks naval training with Rear Adm. Max “Pepper” McCoy, commander of Carrier Strike Group 4.
The Silent Service no more? Pacific submarine fleet a key part of Pacific deterrence
Rear Adm. Jeffrey Jablon, the Submarine Force, US Pacific Fleet (SUBPAC) commander, talks with author Robbin Laird about his view of pacific deterrence.
A controversial idea: Jets for Ukraine in exchange for treaty talks with Moscow
Giving excess fighter jets to Ukraine now will help ensure its safety in the future - but the NATO nations should have strings attached, write Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake.
Sweden’s massive opportunity to rethink its role in Nordic defense
Sweden "has a significant chance for innovation because it can rebuild its defense forces within a wider context and perspective while relying heavily on domestic defense companies that the country has not yet tapped to its full benefit," writes analyst Robbin Laird.
More Than Joint: The Aussies Forge A Way Ahead
Australian Air Marshal Leo Davies highlighted the “institutional interoperability which the Royal Australian Air Force was shaping with its closest allies, and notably with the US Air Force and the US Navy during his recent visit to the US. The Aussies are not simply camp followers – they are shaping a way ahead an integrated […]
Allies And 21st Century Weapons: The F-35 Comes To Europe
A key dynamic in the shift from COIN-centric land wars to a twenty-first century combat force is what the US and its closest allies will learn from each other thanks to the core weapons systems they are buying at the same time. Hidden in plain view is the emergence of a significant driver of change –- flying the same […]
Allies Can Help US Lower Weapons Costs, Build New Force
Shifting from a primary focus on counterinsurgency land wars to building a high intensity combat force able to prevail against peer competitors is a significant challenge for the United States and its closest allies after 15 years of COIN. A key dynamic within this effort is the crucial opportunity the US and its closest allies have to […]
Norway: A Model for NATO’s Northern Tier
Norway faces the challenge of crafting a national defense strategy for the 21st strategy in the face of Vlad Putin’s more aggressive Russia. Because Putin thinks through his use of military power and designs limited objectives to achieve what he considers in the best interest of Russia, Norway faces a double challenge: how to defend […]
Is Trump, Information Warrior, Key To Defeating Daesh (ISIL)?
President-elect Trump has promised to destroy Daesh. If Trump wants to avoid being the third Administration in succession to sink into the morass of the Middle East, it is essential to first ask what declaring victory would look like. Part of the West’s challenge is rooted in that Daesh is a brand inside a religion and […]
Strip Trump’s NSC Spox Of Her Thesis: Open Letter To Columbia University
UPDATED: Crowley Will Stay In NYC, Per Request She Withdraw; Jan. 16 This is a little out of of our usual lane, but the controversy about Monica Crowley’s apparent plagiarism, both in large sections of her Ph.D thesis and in a recent best-selling book of hers, raises troubling issues of truthfulness and personal integrity, values one hopes […]
Trump, Kelly, & The Coast Guard: Exclusive Interview With Adm. Zukunft
With the election of Donald Trump as the next President of the United States and with Trump’s nomination of Gen. John Kelly for Secretary of Homeland Security, life is going to change for the US Coast Guard. Trump’s campaign focused intently on border security, asking a fundamental question: Why do we send thousands of troops […]
Taiwan, Trump, & The Pacific Defense Grid: Towards Deterrence In Depth
The phone call between President-elect Trump and the President of Taiwan sent shock waves through the diplomatic community. But it is time to turn the page and include Taiwan in shaping a 21st century deterrence strategy for Pacific defense. The People’s Republic of China has made it clear that the regime is moving out into […]
Rear Adm. Manazir Speaks On Allied Force Transformation, A2AD
Recently, Chief of Naval Operations John Richardson drove home the point that using the term Anti-Access Area Denial (A2AD), was too vague as to be useful to define the effort of US and allied forces to deal with peer competitors. “The term ‘denial,’ as in anti-access/area denial is too often taken as a fait accompli,” […]
Australia Crafts Its Own Anti-Access, Area Denial Strategy
The Australian military is shaping a transformed military force, one built around new platforms but ones that operate in a joint manner in an extended battlespace. The goal is to extend the defense perimeter of Australia and create, in effect, their own version of an Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) strategy. They also recognize a key reality of 21st […]
Hawk Carlisle On The Way Ahead: DE, EW, Data
Gen. Hawk Carlisle has been at the center of global allied operations for several years, first at Pacific Air Forces and now at Air Combat Command. Recently, we interviewed him at Langley AFB, home of Air Combat Command. During his watch, several new combat assets have come to play in Middle East operations. “Each of the […]