Vladimir Putin has clearly focused on expanding Russian influence in the areas of strategic interest to Russia such as the region that stretches from the Baltics to the Nordics. Proof? They have generated major military exercises designed to influence behavior, such as last year’s Zapad 2018. They have issued nuclear threats against the Danes and the…
During the past couple of years, I’ve focused on the part of Europe which is very serious about defense, namely, Northern Europe. The Danes, the Norwegians, the Swedes and the Finns, all have refocused efforts on defense of their nations, but they’ve done so in a broader regional context. As my colleague Harald Malmgren…
For years, we’ve heard about how vulnerable aircraft carriers are to enemy fire. They’re big. They’re not that fast — compared to a missile. But a big airbase isn’t exactly mobile. While it can be hardened, its location is well known. So, this year the Pentagon requested $361 million for deployable airbase systems as part…
“If something kicks off, we’re the first ones to see it,” the sergeants told us. “We’re the first ones to react. And you’re on the line, they’re coming after you.”
The shift from low-intensity land wars and the concepts of operations associated with them to getting ready for higher tempo and higher intensity operations are key to the transformation of U.S. and allied forces. The challenge facing the liberal democracies was well put in a recent presentation by a senior Finnish defense official: “The timeline…
Denmark is a small country, but an important player in the NATO Alliance and the resurgent Nordic defense group of Norway, Sweden and Finland to deal with the rumbling Russia. And it will grow more important as it implements an impressive 20 percent increase in defense spending over the next six years. The increase was…
Robbin Laird is an old defense hand. Today, he’s a consultant and a member of the Breaking Defense Board of Contributors, but he served as special assistant for the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 1979-1983 and also worked on the National Security Council for two presidents. Here’s the piece he posted on his website, Second Line…
The shift from slo mo — counterinsurgency operations — to high intensity combat is a major challenge for the US military and its allies. It is a culture shift, a procurement shift and an investment shift. But mobilization is even more important than modernization. To get ready for this shift, our weapons inventory needs to…
The return of the Russian threat has spurred US allies to pay new attention to collective defense, not just in Europe but in the North Atlantic. No ally is more critical than Canada, strategically joined at the hip with the US in NORAD. Recently, I had a chance to interview the head of the Royal…
The UK, Norway and the US have signed an agreement to work together on anti-submarine warfare (ASW) in the North Atlantic which will leverage the joint acquisition of the P-8 aircraft, another example of the US and its allies an evolving defense capability in which allies are clearly key partners. The P-8s is part of…
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…
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…
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 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…
During the past couple of years, I’ve focused on the part of Europe which is very serious about defense, namely, Northern Europe. The Danes, the Norwegians, the Swedes and the Finns, all have refocused efforts on defense of their nations, but they’ve done so in a broader regional context. As my colleague Harald Malmgren…
By Robbin Laird