The X3 hybrid helicopter, one of the highlights of the Paris Air Show last year, is in the midst of a month-long tour of the United States. Robbin Laird, defense consultant and owner of the Second Line of Defense website, saw the aircraft do its thing in Texas and he offers this appraisal of the […]
This year’s Farnborough Airshow is bookmarked by the Euro crisis, and the fates of the Chinese and American economies. On the defense side, there is the end of a land war era for the U.S. and significant uncertainty about how global events will change how countries seek to arm and defend themselves in the years […]
Do more with less: streamline workflows, reduce duplication, invest upfront to save long-term.
This is the first in a series of commentaries defense consultant and author Robbin Laird, a member of the Breaking Defense Board of Contributors, is penning about how the U.S. can and should shape its forces to perform the Asia strategy pivot. As a key part of that, he’ll be looking closely at what he […]
The Navy-Marine Corps team just completed the largest amphibious exercise in more than a decade. But what did people see? What did they recognize in the Bold Alligator exercise and focus upon? Because it is called an amphibious exercise, outsiders who attended the exercise tended to focus upon the amphibious ships themselves, the landing ships, […]
In the new year, America’s power projection forces must be restructured and we must pursue a ruthless retirement of old weapons in favor of the new. Much of this can be paid for and modernized because of our withdrawal from Afghanistan, which costs $2 billion a week. Logistics costs in Afghanistan alone have diverted money […]
Robbin Laird, a member of the AOL Board of Contributors and vocal F-35 proponent, outlines why Japan’s decision to purchase the Joint Strike Fighter will redefine the U.S. and its allies fly and fight in the Pacific. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will be the cornerstone of Japanese defense. The Japanese know something about technology. […]
As threats rapidly evolve, digital engineering, manufacturing capacity and robust supply chains are critical to meeting challenges.
Robbin Laird, a member of the AOL Board of Contributors, is a well known supporter of the F-35. When he read Sen. McCain’s recent criticism of the program Laird immediately began to pen a rebuttal. We present his analysis and commentary. The whirling dervish of the Senate has struck again. Rather than rebuilding US and […]
President Obama’s visit to Darwin, a port city, in Australia’s Northern Territories, celebrates 60 years of the ANZUS Treaty, centerpiece of one of the closest defense relationships on the planet. Darwin is also the home of a forward Royal Australian Air Force base and other military facilities. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the president […]
The French operational experience in and off of Libya has neatly dovetailed with that of the U.S. Marines and suggests a way forward for American thinking about littoral operations. With the decision of the U.S. national command authority to “lead from behind,” the Marines were almost inadvertently given a leading role. What “lead from behind” […]
Robbin Laird, international defense consultant, has been in Paris interviewing French military officials about lessons learned in Libya. This is the first of two pieces he’ll do for Breaking Defense on what he’s learned. The Editor. A main point underscored by the French military was the impact of the political process on military planning. The […]
The Sixth Domain is not defined by geography. It’s a new kind of conflict in which autonomy and networked systems allow thousand-dollar consumer electronics to destroy multi-million-dollar conventional weapons systems.
Early on the morning of September 11th, I had an appointment in the Pentagon with a senior Pentagon official. I got there a bit early, and parked just outside the Defense Secretary’s office. As I was sitting in the office, the TV was showing the story of an airliner plowing into the World Trade Center. […]
When Congress considers funding a ship or a plane or a helicopter, the focus is often narrow: what does it cost this year? The Hill often ignores the impact of moving money for critical platforms to future budgets. Also, the strategic and tactical costs to the country of delaying a platform acquisition costs the country […]
Secretary Gates put the Marine F-35B V/STOVL version of the Lightning II on probation; it was a headline grabbing rhetorical trick. Gates pulled a similar ploy with the F-22 when announcing that the decision was based on a cost study within DoD. Unfortunately, the study never was done and does not exist. Unfortunately for our […]