02/06/2015 Second Line of Defense attended the ceremony for the arrival of the first F-35A to the USAF Weapons School on January 15, 2015. There are already 4 F-35As here with the test wing, but this is the first full up IOC template F-35A, which will be put through its paces…
2015-02-04 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake During our visit to Nellis AFB we had the chance to sit down with Col. Ted “Vader” Dempsey, the Commander of the Nevada Test and Training Range. According to a local Georgia paper (in a piece published in March 2014) which highlighted Dempsey’s…
2015-01-25 By Ed Timperlake Former CO VMFA-321 Recently I attended an Air Force association news briefing by Maj. Gen. Garrett Harencak, the AF general who oversees the service’s nuclear weapons delivery systems, and during this briefing he expressed his frustration with asserted facts journalism. “There are publications out there that…
2015-01-24 We have published several articles over the years, which have highlighted the approach and challenges of 21st century defense manufacturing, including several on the F-35 production approach. Recently, Steve Trimble of Flight International has visited the final assembly line for the F-35 in Fort Worth ( and one should…
2015-01-19 The F-35C Lightning II carrier variant Joint Strike Fighter conducts its first arrested landing aboard the USS Nimitz (CVN 68) aircraft carrier off the coast of San Diego, November 2, 2014. This video provides a perspective from the USN with regard to the F-35C coming to the carrier airwing.…
2015-01-19 Although the F-22 and F-35 have flown together previously, now training to bring together the core competencies of the two systems into a coherent combat force has begun. As the former head of the Air Combat Command put it in an interview with Second Line of Defense: People focus…
2015-01-15 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake Nellis AFB, Nevada A new chapter in developing the next generation of combat airpower has just opened at the USAF Weapons School, Nellis AFB. We attended the arrival ceremony of the first fully operational F-35A into the USAF Weapons School. F-35s have been…
2014-12-14 By Robbin Laird The F-35 is entering service at a critical juncture when air and ground dynamics are being linked in new ways. A 360 degree sensing aircraft which can do close air support and other air superiority missions in new ways, the F-35 will become a staple of…
