The Coming of the CH-53K to the Amphibious Force: How to Describe a New 21st Century Air Platform and Its Impact?

03/03/2016
2016-02-29  The venerable CH-53 has been a staple for Marines in providing heavy lift since the Vietnam War. The origins of the heavy lift helo is described by Wikipedia as follows: In 1960, the United States Marine Corps began to seek a replacement for their HR2S piston-powered helicopters. On 27 January 1961, the Marine Corps…

Rolling Out the F-35 Fleet from the Testing Perspective: An Interview with the Chief Test Engineer for the F-35 ITF at Pax River

03/02/2016
2016-02-27 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake During a recent visit to Pax River, we had the chance to discuss the F-35 test approach and way ahead with Andrew Maack. F-35 Integrated Test Force (ITF) chief test engineer. Although we were at Pax River, the F-35 ITF is rooted in…

Australia Re-Sets Its Defense Policy: The Defence White Paper 2016 Looks Beyond the Platform Shopping List

02/28/2016
2016-02-26 By Robbin Laird The Australian government has recently released a new Defense White Paper along with two accompanying documents, a defense industrial policy statement as well as defense integrated investment program. Together, these documents express the concern with the dynamics of change in the region and beyond, and Australia’s’…

The USAF Thinks About the Wolfpack: The Renorming of Airpower

02/27/2016
2016-02-24  Recently, Defense News reported cutting edge thinking from the USAF in which manned aircraft flew with unmanned aircraft to shape a joint mission. AFRL, working with the Air Force’s test pilot school, has already demonstrated that this concept of teaming a manned with an unmanned aircraft is possible in a…