2015-11-16 By Robbin Laird The Wedgetail is part of the Royal Australian’s 21st century air power transformation effort and strategy. It is the core air battle management platform in the RAAF and is often referred to as an AWACs, although it is not. As the RAAF describes the Wedgetail: The…
2015-06-02 By Robbin Laird The Royal Navy (RN) is returning the large deck carrier business after many years absence. This means that the RN while shaping the concepts of operations for it new carrier and the RAF for the new carrier air wing, the two services are not constrained by…
2015-11-28 The Luftwaffe operates the Heron 1 in Afghanistan with support from Airbus Defence and Space. The German Air Force focuses on utilization of the aircraft and Airbus and Defence and Space is responsible for operating the systems and guarantees the operational readiness of Heron 1 in Afghanistan. This services business model…
2015-11-12 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake In late October 2015, we had a chance to sit down and talk with key members of the Air Combat Command (ACC) staff about the evolution of the air combat force and the way ahead under the influence of new technologies coming into…
2015-11-12 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake On November 5, 2015, Lt. General (Retired) Deptula testified in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The key topic was the challenge of revisiting the roles and missions of the Armed Forces. This is especially crucial because of the more than decade long…
2015-11-13 By Robbin Laird The first flight of Italian F-35 pilots occurred on November 5, 2015. The two pilots flew a USAF and a RAAF jet. The flight aboard the Australian jet highlighted the role of the partners in the F-35 program, and a harbinger of things to come. As…
2015-11-14 The first two Norwegian F-35 aircraft are seen arriving at Luke AFB, AZ and the first Royal Norwegian Air Force F-35 student pilot’s initial flight as well in the video below. Norway is one of the F-35 partner nations currently training pilots at Luke AFB. The two Norwegian F-35 jets…
2015-11-11 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake Counter-insurgency warfare has been the dominant template dominating U.S military engagements for more than a decade. Joint warfare has been largely defined in terms of the air and naval services supporting the ground forces doing COIN. COIN has become so dominate, that the…
