The Anarchy of the Moment: Australia’s Race Between Military Transformation and Strategic Vulnerability
Australia faces a strategic paradox that defines its defense transformation in the 2020s: the Australian Defence…
Read More »Italy’s Strategic Leap: Adding a F-35 Training Hub to Their Training Capabilities
Italy’s recent approval to invest €112.6 million in establishing the Lightning Training Center at Trapani-Birgi Air…
Read More »From Cobra Pilot to Digital Warrior: The Evolution of Marine Corps Digital Interoperability
Five years ago, the cockpit of a Marine Corps AH-1Z Cobra attack helicopter was a very…
Read More »Restoring Strategic Coherence: The 2026 National Defense Strategy as Industrial and Operational Realism
The 2026 National Defense Strategy has generated considerable controversy for its blunt language about allied burden-sharing…
Read More »The Monroe Doctrine’s Convenient Amnesia: Historical Reality versus Contemporary Rhetoric
The recent U.S. intervention in Venezuela prompted predictable invocations of the Monroe Doctrine, with policymakers and…
Read More »F-35 Quarterbacks and CCAs: The Behavioral Path to Sixth-Generation Airpower
The concept of fifth-generation air warfare was clearly articulated by former Secretary of the Air Force…
Read More »
Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) have moved in just a few years from a conceptual “loyal wingman” idea to concrete flight testing, down‑selects, and multi‑service adoption, with 2025–2026 shaping up as the period where the United States proves whether it can actually field affordable combat mass at speed. Across the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and now the Army, CCAs are evolving into a family of large, jet‑powered uncrewed systems, tightly linked to manned platforms and backed by a growing budget, a more incremental acquisition strategy, and intensive experimentation with autonomy and manned‑unmanned teaming. The U.S. Air Force remains the pacing service in the United States for CCA development, having launched the first formal program in 2023 and moved it into early operational prototyping during 2025. In August 2025,...