2017-01-07 According to an article published by the UK MoD on January 1, 2017, “2017 is set to be the year of the Royal Navy as it prepares to welcome new ships to the fleet, following one of their busiest years since the end of the Cold War.” Defence Secretary Sir…
2016-12-17 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake During our most recent visit to USMC Air Station Yuma, we had a chance to meet with the head of MAWTS-1 and discuss the way ahead for USMC concepts of operations as seen from this key tactical innovation center. [caption id="attachment_92535" align="alignnone" width="273"] The…
2016-12-30 By Ed Timperlake and Robbin Laird In addition to the interview which we had with the CO of MAWTS-1, Col. Rowell, we had a chance to talk with Lt. Col. Nelson, the XO of MAWTS-1 and Major Duke. Lt. Col. “Cowboy” Nelson was on the deployment under the command…
2016-12-29 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake Col. Rowell is the first Commanding Officer of VMX-1: Marine Corps Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron 1. VMX-1 includes the operational test & evaluation (OT&E) and science & technology (S&T) activities that have supported Marine Aviation from HMX-1, VX-9, MACCS-X and MAWTS-1. One…
2016-12-06 By Todd Miller Statistics, Milestones, Capabilities, Flight characteristics, Test protocols, Cost, Software blocks. It is easy to get lost in the complexity of the F-35 program. The combined F-35 fleet now has over 75,000 flight hours, yet for many there remains a lack of understanding. Much of this can…
2016-12-16 By Robbin Laird The last time I met with Admiral Zukunft was when he was working at the USCG headquarters in California and responsible for USCG Pacific operations. Later he would become Commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area as well. We had a chance to discuss his perspective on the…
12/15/2016: Marine Col. George Rowell, the CO of VMX-1 at the Farnborough International Airshow 2016 (FIA16) discusses the visit to the Farnbourgh Airshow this past summer. VMX-1 is working the con ops of integrating the F-35B with the Osprey and the CH-53K for the MAGTF and we did interviews with VMX-1…
12/16/2016: We have recently interviewed the CO of VMFA-121 in Yuma in early December 2016 and will shortly publish his interview. But this story from July 2016 discusses a milestone to the process of the squadron preparing for its deployment to Japan in 2017. Six F-35B Lightning IIs with Marine Fighter Attack…
