By Robbin Laird The kill web appraoch at sea is tapping into a number of key real world operational developments as well as new technologies which will enhance distributed operations and lethality. Three sets of new stories recently published although not linked in the press, clearly are linked in terms…
By Robbin Laird My visits to the UK and Australia over the past five years indicate growing working relationships between the two air forces but also that the significant rethink in Australia about shaping a fifth-generation combat force has clearly had its impact and resonance in the United Kingdom as…
According to a press release from BAE Systems Australia, the company is working with the Commonwealth of Australia to work supply chain innovations with regard to the F-35. Given Australia's role in regional support for the aircraft, this is an especially important effort. BAE Systems Australia and the Advanced Manufacturing…
The F-35 as a 21st century air platform has a number of innovations built into the aircraft and the overall air system to facilitate more effective maintenance and sustainability. One example is the Engine Removal and Installation (R&I) Mobility Trailer built in Australia for the F-35 global enterprise. According to the…
Defence has signed an agreement with Lockheed Martin Australia and Lockheed Martin Corporation to ensure the effective long-term sustainment of the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter capability in Australia. The agreement includes intellectual property, technical data and software arrangements for Australia’s direct sovereign sustainment contracts with Lockheed Martin entities. The Minister for…
By Robbin Laird I have been travelling to Australia and working with the Williams Foundation in Canberra for five years. I am now a research Fellow at the Foundation. What I have found most fascinating about my time there and the journey of discovery of the RAAF is how they have…
The recent news from Red Flag 2019-1 with regard to how the F-35 is teaming with other elements of an air combat force to deliver air superiority is hardly a surprise to readers of Second Line of Defense who have travelled with us over the more than a decade to…
By Andrew McLaughlin Australian industry has been allocated a large proportion of the next round of regional F-35 JSF program Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul and Upgrade (MRO&U) workshare awards. Of the 388 component work assignments awarded in the Asia-Pacific region, Australian companies have been awarded 343 of them. The latest component…
