10/31/2011 During the visit to the USS Wasp on October 18th, the NAVSEA 05 Engineering Director provided an update on both the preparation for tests aboard the USS Wasp as well as a sense of test results and the relationship between the tests and the way ahead. Ansis Kalnajs, the…
10/31/2011 In a discussion with reporters aboard the USS Wasp during F-35B shipboard trials. we caught up again with test pilot of the year "Squirt" Kelly. As readers of SLD know, we have discussed the F-35 on previous visits to Pax River. https://sldinfo.com/the-f-35-pilot/ https://sldinfo.com/test-pilot-of-the-year/ https://sldinfo.com/fly-testing-the-f-35-a-building-block-approach/ [caption id="attachment_26022" align="alignleft" width="170"] Lt.…
10/31/2011 by Ed Timperlake "Can't anybody here play this game?" Casey Stengel More than three months have passed since Undersecretary Robert Work’s July 7th 2011 Memo “Navy Tactical Air (TACAIR) Portfolio Analysis-Warfighter Capability and Affordability Trades” http://www.sldforum.com/2011/08/under-secretary-of-the-navy-robert-works-july-tac-air-memo/ The memo was written while U.S. forces were engaged in combat in Operation “Odyssey…
10/30/2011 Aboard the USS Wasp during F-35B sea trials, Second Line of Defense had a chance to talk with Admiral Scott, Commander of Expeditionary Strike Group Two. The navy leadership aboard the WASP made it clear that V-22/F35B tandem was central to the future of the US Navy. There was…
10/28/2011 by Richard Weitz When considering South Korea and the F-35 issue, it is important to keep in mind the transformed nature of the ROK-US alliance. Its most important function is still to help protect South Korea from external attack, but it has also evolved, and should continue to do…
10/26/2011: As this rollout of a Pacific strategy for the United States in the Pacific has made clear, air power is not synonymous with the USAF. Airpower is crucial at every level of establishing presence and shaping the building blocks of scalability. Without aviation assets, the USCG cutters have very…
10/26/2011 by Ed Timperlake Ever since the evacuation of the Chinese Nationalist Forces to Taiwan after their defeat on the mainland by Mao’s Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) has quested for a complete victory by establishing sovereignty over that island fortress. Taiwan is an island…
10/22/2011 - Second Line of Defense sat down with recently retired Lt. General Desclaux. Desclaux’s last command was as French Commander of Air Defense and Air Operations for the French Air Force. The General has a distinguished and comprehensive background in air operations, with significant NATO experience as well. An…