Second Line of DefenseOpinion

Refueling the Mesh: What a Robotic Connector Off Virginia Tells Us About the Autonomous Fleet’s Missing Link

By Robbin Laird In August 2026, off Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, Virginia, a Navy-industry team quietly ...
Second Line of DefenseOpinion

From AIS to Intelligence Authority: Windward and the Challenge of Maritime Domain Awareness in an Age of Chaos

By Robbin Laird When I spoke recently with Ami Daniel, the CEO and co-founder of Windward, I came away convinced that his ...
Second Line of DefenseOpinion

MUMS-14 and the Impact Force: Closing the Gap Steel Knight Exposed

By Robbin Laird On June 16, 2026, under a covered pavilion at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, the Marine Corps ...
Second Line of Defense

Designed In, Not Bolted On: Barrett’s Third Lesson for the Autonomous Systems Age

By Robbin Laird When I sat down with then Chief of the Australian Navy, Vice Admiral Tim Barrett, in 2017, one of the quieter points he made has aged into one of the more prescient ones. Amid the ...
Second Line of Defense

Italy Sets to Establish First F-35 Training Center Outside U.S. in Sicily

Italy is poised to make aviation history by establishing the first F-35 fighter pilot training center outside the United States, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto announced during a ceremony in Sardinia ...
Second Line of Defense

Lewis B. Puller and the Mine Warfare Mission at the Strait of Hormuz

USS Lewis B. Puller (ESB-3) embodies a straightforward but strategically important proposition: if you want to keep the Strait of Hormuz open against the threat of mines, you put the mine-warfare ...
Second Line of Defense

U.S. Marines in Iron Fist 2025: Strengthening Pacific Partnerships Through Bilateral Amphibious Operations

The 2025 iteration of Exercise Iron Fist represents a significant milestone in U.S.-Japan military cooperation, with American Marines and Japanese forces conducting their largest bilateral amphibious ...
Second Line of Defense

The Kill Web Imperative: A Strategic Analysis of the Paradigm Shift in Combat Pilot Training

Military aviation stands at a decisive inflection point. For the past two decades, air power development was largely defined by the demands of counterinsurgency and crisis management in the “land wars ...
Second Line of Defense

MajGen Benedict on His Time as CG of 2nd Marine Air Wing

On May 14, 2024, I visited 2 nd Marine Air Wing to have the opportunity to speak with the Commanding General of the Wing, MajGen Scott Benedict. This was two days before the change of command and his ...
Second Line of Defense

The CMV-22B and Carrier Operations Across Two Oceans

When the CMV-22B Osprey touched down on the deck of USS Carl Vinson in August 2021, it marked more than just another aircraft delivery. It represented a fundamental transformation in how the United ...
Second Line of Defense

MUMS-14 Stands Up at Cherry Point: Building the Maintenance Backbone for the Marine Corps’ MQ-9A Force

A light rain fell over the parade field at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point on the morning of June 16, 2026, but it did nothing to slow the proceedings. Under a covered pavilion ringed with the ...
Second Line of Defense

Royal Australian Navy Explores Autonomy and Optional Crewing: Eyes LUSV as Potential LOSV Solution

The Australian Department of Defence’s response to the Royal Australian Navy surface fleet review, Enhanced Lethality Surface Combatant Fleet, published in February, announced the RAN would field six ...