The Japanese Buy Their First F-35s: Building Blocks for a Global Fleet

06/29/2012
6/29/12: By Robbin Laird By building on the F-35 and leveraging its capabilities, the U.S. and its allies can build the next phase of power projection within affordable limits. U.S. forces need to become more agile, flexible, and global in order to work with allies and partners to deal with…

Shaping a Strike and Defense Enterprise: The Role of DAS

06/27/2012
A key impact of the F-35 as a fleet will be to enable deployed air power to work simultaneously as a strike and defense force.  The F-35 fleet will take multi-mission to a new level.  A core enabler for such a role will be the combat system capabilities of the…

MBDA Spear missile and the F-35

06/27/2012
6:27/12:by Craig Hoyle Excerpt: European manufacturer MBDA has unveiled a UK-developed design for a next-generation air-to-surface weapon suitable for internal carriage by the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. To be shown for the first time as a full-scale mock-up at the Farnborough air show, the Spear concept would use…

Quickstep signs contract for even more advanced F-35 composites

06/25/2012
6/24/12: Quickstep Holdings has secured its second Long Term Agreement (LTA) with Northrop Grumman to manufacture parts for the international F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program, allowing the company to manufacture more complex parts for the aircrafts. Quickstep, based in Perth, is an advanced composites manufacturer currently supplying…

Allies and the F-35: Getting on With It

06/24/2012
6/24/12: by Ed Timperlake A recent Heritage Foundation seminar focused on the F-35 and allies. The presentations were by Colonel Kevin J. Killea, 
United States Marine Corps, Dr. Robbin F. Laird, 
Co-Founder and Senior Analyst, Second Line of Defense and Anthony “Lazer” Lazarski 
Military Legislative Assistant, Office of Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK). The…

New Australian F-35 Facility

06/22/2012
Northrop Grumman F-35 Supplier Quickstep Opens New Facility BANKSTOWN, Australia, June 22, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ Northrop Grumman Corporation's largest F-35 Australian supplier--Quickstep Technologies Pty Ltd.--opened a new facility in Bankstown, Australia. Quickstep supplies composite skins and subassemblies for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter center fuselage that is…

The Norwegian F-35 Decision: Understanding the Impact of Weapons Integration

06/21/2012
6/21/12: by Robbin Laird A key element of the F-35 decision by Norway was the acceptance of the integration of a new Kongsberg missile onto the F-35 itself. Through the development of the Naval Strike Missile (NSM), the Norwegian Armed Forces has established KONGSBERG and other Norwegian industry in the…

A Marine Corps Perspective on the F-35: Getting on With It

06/17/2012
At a roundtable on the F-35 and allies held at the Heritage Foundation on June 7, 2012, Colonel Kevin J. Killea
provided a Marine Corps perspective on the program. Currently, he is the head of Aviation Weapons Requirements branch for headquarters United States Marine Corps.  He’s a graduate of both the…