2016-07-02 Although the arrival of F-35s for the Farnbourgh and RIAT air shows can be seen as a unique event, it is not. It is part of a process of the coming of the F-35 to its initial operating capability, and starting a pattern of cross-Atlantic crossings. Earlier, the Italian…
2016-07-05 According to an article by the Commander, US Third Fleet Public Affairs published on 6/23/16: SAN DIEGO - Twenty-six nations, 45 ships, five submarines, more than 200 aircraft, and 25,000 personnel will participate in the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise scheduled June 30 to Aug. 4, in…
2016-06-26 By Robbin Laird Last April, I had the chance to talk with Air Commodore Smyth about the coming of the F-35 to RAF Marham. And just down the road from Marham is RAF Lakenheath where the USAF will operate its UK-based F-35s. Flying the same aircraft in the same airspace…
2016-06-26 Second Line of Defense attended the Airbus Defence and Space Trade Media Brief held in Munich Germany on June 20 and 21st 2016. We will be reporting on a number of the presentations and the launch discussion of the new H Force weapons system by Airbus Helicopters. In this first…
2016-06-20 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake We have argued that the 21st century warfighting enterprise is in need of a weapons revolution. As the former Chief Scientist of the USAF, Dr. Mark Lewis put it: : “Why are we putting 3rd and 4th generation weapons on 5th generation aircraft? https://sldinfo.com/building-21st-century-weapons-for-21st-century-operations-key-attributes-of-the-new-weapons-enterprise/…
2016-06-08 HMAS Adelaide participated in Exercise Sea Explorer 2016 (EX SE16) from 25 May – 05 June off the coast of North Queensland as part of the certification process to determine its readiness to conduct amphibious operations. The second Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) to be commissioned into the Royal Australian…
2016-06-05 The RAAF KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transport provides air-to-air refueling support to international coalition aircraft in the skies over Iraq as part of Task Group 630. On 27 April 2016, the deployed KC-30A surpassed the milestone of delivering 50 million pounds (27 million kilograms) of fuel to receiver aircraft in…
2016-06-11 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake During our visit to Jacksonville Naval Air Station, we had a chance to talk with Lt. Alan Tucker, the VP-16 Squadron Maritime Tactics Instructor (SMTI). He has surface fleet experience and came to the P-8 four years ago and started as a weapons…
