No media team has followed the birthing and growth of the F-35B more than the Second Line of Defense team. We started with the standup at Eglin AFB. We followed the efforts at Yuma and the departure of the first combat ready squadron to Japan and their initial use in…
The RAAF has taken delivery of its ninth F-35A Joint Strike Fighter and the first to be taken on strength by its first operational flying unit to fly the jet, No 3 Squadron. F-35A A35-009 was delivered to Luke Air Force Base, Arizona where it was accepted by 3QSN in…
By Robbin Laird In my discussions at Penten, I learned of a very innovative approach to providing for the security for mobile systems. They have developed an approach which allows the user to connect with a variety of security systems through a very innovative USB device which allows a mobile…
With the coming of the F-35 to European Air Forces, a key priority is to work the training side of F-35s and fifth generation aircraft with other types of European Aircraft. This has been a key focus of attention by the European Air Group for some time, but this Fall,…
The UK and the US Marines are the major users for now for the F-35B, although the demand for enhanced operational mobility by air faces direct threats to their land bases will almost certainly lead to others joining the ranks of F-35B users. This week the UK MoD announced the…
"The high-end biennial Valiant Shield exercise kicked off in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands on Sunday, with some of the Navy’s and Marine Corps’ most advanced platforms participating in the weeklong event. "The exercise – a high-end, U.S.-only follow-up to the large-scale multi-national Rim of the Pacific exercise every…
The coming of the F-35B off of an amphibious task force has come to the Mediterranean. The Marines have been very visible in the Pacific as well with their new air combat capability, a capability designed to be integrated with the amphibious task force and to bring significant new multi-domain…
By Robbin Laird We have argued for more than a decade that leveraging fifth generation aircraft allowed for the re-norming of airpower. With the evolution of the F-35 and with the buy of the aircraft by several key allies, those allies are starting to introduce the aircraft into their forces,…
