Airpower in Transition: Meeting 21st Century Strategic Challenges

04/30/2015
2015-04-30  Dr. Robbin Laird was part of the last panel for the Copenhagen Airpower Symposium hosted by the Centre for Military Studies and the Williams Foundation on April 17, 2015. In his summary presentation, he looked at a number of changes affecting the evolution of airpower. One challenge facing airpower…

The Fifth Generation Experience: Getting on With Combat Transformation

04/29/2015
2015-04-30 Lt. Col. “Chip” Berke first met John Blackburn as a guest at the Williams Foundation Seminar in March 2014 on airpower. When Blackburn was putting together a follow-on event with the Centre for Military Studies in Denmark, he requested early on that Berke provide his insights into what the fifth…

Australian F-35 Pilot Completes Last Training Flight

04/26/2015
04/26/2015: The first-ever Australian F-35 pilot recently completed his last training flight, marking the end of his flight training at the Academic Training Center on Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. Royal Australian Air Force Squadron Leader Andrew Jackson, F-35 Lightning II student pilot, completes his final training mission after…

The USMC and the RAAF Focus on the Next Generation of Warfare

04/25/2015
2015-04-25 By an historical anomaly more than strategic planning, the USMC and the RAAF find themselves in similar situations in one key regard: both are undergoing fundamental modernization of their air platforms, and are approaching the re-set not from a platform-centric mentality but a transformation approach. Prior to the airpower…

Arctic Challenge Exercise 2015: Norway as the Lead Nation

04/11/2015
2015-04-11  According to a story on the Norwegian Ministry of Defence website published on 4/8/15: In 2015 one of Europe’s largest fighter jet exercise is to take place in the Nordic countries, with Norway as lead nation. [caption id="attachment_76541" align="alignnone" width="300"] Norwegian F16s taxiing for take off. Credit: Norwegian MOD.[/caption]…

RAAF Pilot Completes His First F-35A Flight

03/25/2015
03/25/2015: In this video from the Australian Ministry of Defence, an Australian pilot describes his first flight of an Australian F-35 at Luke AFB. He described the plane as easy to fly and the experience very symmetrical with his training on the simulator. His main concern was not falling off…

USN Reservist Flying the F-35B and the F-35C

03/22/2015
2015-03-22 This video includes several shots of the operation of the F-35C as well as the F-35B operating off of the Nimitz and the WASP. The ability to operate from the sea provides a significant capability to enhance the overall effects from combined land and sea airpower. The video has…