09/23/2015: A Company of Army Commandos have parachuted out of three Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft and dropped into the waters of Exmouth, Western Australia to fight and defeat a simulated enemy during the inaugural Australian Defence Force Exercise Northern Shield. The Special Forces contingent descended into Exmouth against the setting…
2015-09-22 By Robbin Laird During my visit to Australia in August 2015, I had a chance to talk with an experienced fighter pilot and squadron commander, and now commander of Air Combat Group about his time in Operation Okra and the way ahead for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).…
09/23/2015: The inaugural bilateral maritime exercise between India and Australia, AUSINDEX15, was held in Visakhapatnam, India between 12 - 20 Sep 2015. Three Royal Australian Navy platforms and a Royal Australian Air Force AP-3C made the passage to India for the exercise. HMA Ships Sirius and Arunta and submarine Sheean…
2015/09/15 By Robbin Laird During my recent visit to Australia, where the Royal Australian Air Force is shaping its path ahead with regard to transformation via what it calls Plan Jericho, its combat experience in the Middle East is providing an important input to the way ahead. As the new Chief…
2015-09-19 By Ed Timperlake and Robbin Laird Close air support in the context of the fight against ISIS is about providing support for those forces on the ground engaged in the fight against ISIS. A key force in the fight is the Peshmerga who clearly need supplies and air support…
09/21/2015: From 31 August – 4 September, 2015, Exercise Joint Strike, the inaugural Amphibious Task Group (ATG) joint fires exercise, was conducted at the Beecroft Weapons Range, in the Jervis Bay area, New South Wales. Royal Australian Navy, Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force personnel from within the ATG conducted…
09/21/2015: 3rd Air Force, 17th Expeditionary Air Force Commander, Lt. Gen. Timothy Ray, hosted a media event at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, September 3rd, 2015, to announce the F-22 Raptor's first ever European training deployment. The purpose of the event was to highlight the importance of forward based infrastructure and…
09/21/2015: The 388th Fighter Wing received their first two F-35A Lightning II Aircraft at Hill AFB, UT, on September 2, 2015. The two aircraft, tails 5071 and 5072, are both Block 3I jets, which provide initial warfighting capability. That includes data links, multi-ship sensor fusion ability, the updated Integrated Core Processor, and…
