Australia looking to protect its home waters, while sending a signal to Washington that it is one of the allies that is trying to pull its weight in defending itself.

The deployment comes as Beijing and Washington race to keep tabs on one another in the South China Sea.

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… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The F-35 Joint Strike fighter will  drive deeper and more useful military connections between Australia, the United States and regional partners such as Japan and Malaysia, the head of Australia’s air force said today. “This aircraft has redefined joint” for Australia, Air Marshal Leo Davies said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies this morning, accelerating policy… Keep reading →

NATIONAL HARBOR: Navy Secretary Ray Mabus may want to move drones to the top of his priorities, but what kind of unmanned systems do the Navy and Marine Corps want to buy? Don’t think Predator or even the Navy’s new 131-foot-wingspan Triton. Imagine a swarm of buzzing, scuttling or swimming robots that are smaller but smarter. While a… Keep reading →

PATUXENT RIVER NAVAL AIR STATION: The future of Navy long-range reconnaissance, the recently arrived MQ-4C Triton drone, sprawls across its hangar here, with a wingspan 13 feet wider than a Boeing 737 but a body that’s 80 percent lighter. Designed for 24-hour-plus patrols at 50,000 feet, Triton still can’t do the job by itself, say both the program manager and… Keep reading →

May’s been a good month for Navy drones and Northrop Grumman. First Northrop’s X-47B, forerunner for a future generation of unmanned reconnaissance and strike planes, made its first launch and first touch-and-go landing on an aircraft carrier. Today, Northrop’s land-based MQ-4C Triton drone made its first flight, out of the company’s facility in Palmdale, California:… Keep reading →

UPDATED: BAMS-D Crashes, Burns. No Injuries. PATUXENT RIVER NAVAL AIR STATION: One of the Navy’s Global Hawks crashed and burned during testing about 22 miles from here Monday. The U. S. Coast Guard responded and set up a perimeter around the wreckage of the drone, which the Navy calls BAMS-D, for Broad Area Maritime Surveillance-Demonstrator.… Keep reading →