2014-03-07 By Robbin Laird I have spent the past week in discussions with the staff of the US Pacific Air Forces or PACAF. I was able to sit down with Hawk Carlisle, the Commander PACAF towards the end of the week to pull a broader picture together from those conversations and…
03/13/2014: F-35 Lightning II Arrives at Luke AFB By Paul Giblin The Republic Mon Mar 10, 2014 11:55 PM Air Force test pilot Roderick Cregier flew several slow, low loops through the Arizona sky before landing Luke Air Force Base’s first F-35A Lightning II stealth fighter jet Monday, launching a…
2014-03-09 By Robbin Laird It is clear that the F-35 global enterprise is a unique enabler of the entire re-set of US and allied airpower. Yet this crucial and even central reality is hardly recognized in the mounds or should one say piles of commentary on the F-35 program. And indeed,…
2014-03-12 by Robbin Laird I attended a seminar held by The Williams Foundation yesterday in Canberra, Australia. The focus of the seminar was on Air Combat Operations: 2025 and Beyond. The core emphasis was on the impact of the F-35 on reshaping the Australian combat approach appropriate to the challenges,…
2014-03-06 Dr. Danny Lam and Dr. Brian Paul Cozzarin The Canadian F-35 procurement represents the largest peacetime acquisition of new aircraft for Canadian forces since the Korean War. Securing industrial benefits from military procurement is essential for advanced industrialized nations, and it has long been Canadian industrial policy to do…
03/05/2014: Footage of RAF pilot Squadron Leader Hugh Nichols performing the first uniformed British STOVL operation in the F-35 Lightning II at Eglin Air Force Base. Credit: Hurlburt Field : 2/27/14 And a piece by Lauren Sage Reinlie published 2/25/14 The jet shot through the sky, as jets tend to…
2014-02-28 Second Line of Defense is currently visiting the Pacific and soon will visit the Wedgetail squadron, which currently operates from RAAF Base Williamtown, near Newcastle, New South Wales. During the exercise AWACS and Wedgetail played the core command and control role and F-22s in Alaska (which includes one flown by…
2014-02-02 By Ed Timperlake and Robbin Laird When President Obama announced a “Pivot to the Pacific,” the focus was really upon the United States and what it was going to do in the period ahead. But the US is simply part of a very dynamic and fluid defense and security…
