By Robbin Laird I have been coming to Australia since 2014 and writing the seminar reports for the Sir Richard Williams Foundation bi-annual seminar reports. I have done so because of my deep commitment to the U.S.-Australian relationship but more generally because of my concern with the rise of multi-polar…
On this July 4th 2025, it is important to remember the Flying Fortress: When Heroes Fell from the Sky When that B-17 went down over France on 4 July 1943, it became part of a larger story. Seventy years after a B-17 Flying Fortress crashed into Nazi-occupied territory, French villagers…
Recently, the Polish Foreign Minister argued that Putin had awaken a sleeping giant in terms of European defense efforts. The commitment to 5% defense spending inclusive of 1 and 1/2 percent of GNP on defence related infrastructure will raise a number of analytical questions of who does what with what…
Ukraine's Operation Spider Web stands as one of the most audacious military operations of the 21st century. It estimated that 117 drones were coordinated across 4,300 kilometers, destroying $7 billion in Russian aircraft for under $120,000 in equipment costs The operation's success raises a provocative question: Could the world's most…
By Robbin Laird The recent operations Midnight Hammer and Rising Lion represent the culmination of decades of strategic airpower investment, demonstrating how prescient weapons development from the early 2000s enabled decisive military options in 2025. However, these successes have exposed critical capacity limitations that require immediate attention to maintain credible…
By Pierre Tran Le Bourget, France - A long-simmering dispute between Airbus and Dassault Aviation on the share of high-value work on a planned European fighter jet boiled over at the 2025 Paris air show, which opened June 16 with a summer heatwave warming the tarmac. The June 21 U.S.…
By Debalina Ghoshal Modern warfare operates in an increasingly contested environment where adversaries possess not only advanced weapon systems but also sophisticated cyber capabilities that can disrupt critical defense technologies. The complexity of contemporary missile defense systems requires seamless integration between multiple subsystems and the main weapon platform. As demonstrated…
While Taiwan tensions are often viewed through a U.S.-China lens, the gravest strategic consequences would fall on Japan and the Philippines. Chinese control of Taiwan would fundamentally alter the regional balance, potentially isolating both nations and forcing them into accommodation with Chinese regional dominance regardless of U.S. positions. Taiwan's location…
