According to a story published by Anderson Air Force base, Guam on September 11, 2020, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command forces are participating in exercise Valiant Shield (VS), Sept. 14-25, on Guam and around the Mariana Islands Range Complex. Participants include USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), USS America (LHA 6), USS New…
I have followed the Osprey since 2005. It has clearly been a driver of change for the USMC and the joint force. And one key area of change became evident early on: it can land on a wide variety of ships in the U.S. or allied fleets, and thereby expand…
By Robbin Laird In my discussion with Vice Admiral Miller last February we discussed the way ahead for the carrier air wing. In that conversation, we highlighted the way ahead for the carrier wing in terms of a shift from the integrated to the integratable air wing. The shift is…
By Robbin Laird The remotely piloted solution (Pegasus) versus a manned aircraft solution (Global 6000) for airborne SIGINT should take into account the coming of AGS to NATO. The NATO Air Ground Surveillance approach is built around a remotely piloted solution which dovetails nicely with such a solution for airborne…
According to the Australian Department of Defence in a press release dated August 13, 2020: “HMAS Canberra and embarked forces returned to Australia after successfully completing Regional Presence Deployment 2020. “The Australian Defence Force has embarked on a regional deployment to conduct exercises within Southeast Asia and Hawaii over the…
According to an August 21, 2020 release by Naval Air Station Patuxent River, the CH-53K sea trials went extremely well. A team of pilots and engineers from Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (HX) 21 based at Naval Air Station Patuxent River recently completed a crucial series of sea trials of…
By Robbin Laird With the US Navy’s FMS Offer to Germany for Triton having expired without being extended, Germany is now pursuing a manned aircraft alternative for the SIGINT mission. The approach would be to buy three Bombardier G6000 aircraft and equip them as special mission aircraft. Germany already has…
We tracked in some detail of the coming of the new class of LHAs to the fleet. The flagship is LHA-6, the USS America. These ships represent a significant break from the past in that it can operate as a flagship of an amphibious task force with unprecedented airpower onboard.…
