05/21/2017: The Marine Corps Made history by shooting the F-35B's gun pod in flight for the first time on May 15th, 2017. As Tom Demerly wrote in The Aviationist about the gun pod: The U.S. Marine Corps Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter has completed the test firing of…
2017-05-17 By Robbin Laird A key dynamic with the shift from the land wars to shaping a 21st century combat fore is the crucial opportunity the US and its closest allies have to learn from each other thanks to the number of core weapons systems being bought at the same…
2017-05-13 By Robbin Laird The RAF is positioning itself for a triple transition. The first transition is from the Tornado to Typhoon. The second is the transition is to a fifth generation enabled air combat force. The third transition is the deployment of F-35s aboard the new Queen Elizabeth class carriers…
2017-05-07 By Robbin Laird In a 2015 piece, I highlighted three historic firsts for Italy in the F-35 program delivered in 2015. LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. -- At the beginning of the 20th Century, Italy was a pioneer in combat aviation. Although different at the beginning of the 21st century,…
2017-05-05 By Todd Miller I had a chance to fly with Red Air during Atlantic Trident 2017. The key Red Air platform was the F-15, and the strike eagle has a long and distinguished combat history. As Kyle Mizokami has noted about the Strike Eagle: For nearly three decades, the…
05/09/2017: U.S. Marines from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 perform preflight operational checks on a U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II aircraft at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, May 4, 2017. Northern Edge, Alaska’s largest and premier joint training exercise, is designed to enhance interoperability among the services and ensure service members…
2017-05-04 The first trilateral exercise involving fifth generation aircraft with Typhoons and Rafales was held in December 2015. In a piece published on the French Air Force website on December 16, 2015, a brief overview of the exercise was provided. According to General Creux: “the key challenge was to get our…
05/08/2017: If we had to fight tomorrow in a high intensity conflict the United States Air Force, Royal Air Force, and Armée de l'air would engage together. Atlantic Trident 17 provides the simulated battleground that prepares our air forces for high intensity combat. HAMPTON, VA, UNITED STATES:05.04.2017 Video by Senior Airman Enrique Barcelo, Airman 1st…
