2016-08-15 By Todd Miller For those of us who are not pilots, we can discuss landing aircraft on aircraft carriers but cannot appreciate just how difficult and fraught with disaster the operation is. Pilots returning from long, mentally exhausting missions are often faced with a night landing in stormy weather, at…
2016-08-07 According to a press release issued on August 2, 2016, the F-35 completed its AIM-9X flight tests. The F-35 Lightning II advanced its combat capability by launching an air-to-air missile and directly hitting a drone over a military test range off the California coast on July 28. U.S. Air…
2016-08-02 By Todd Miller Even before the USAF declared the F-35As initial operational capability (IOC) on August 2, they were well ahead of the curve planning the next phase of the F-35A program. This next phase is focused on the priority of F-35A integration within the USAF fighter fleet, and…
2016-07-18 By Robbin Laird USMC and RAF F-35Bs flew from USMC Beaufort Air Station to participate in the RIAT and Farnbourgh air shows. USAF sent F-35As across the Atlantic to participate as well in RIAT. These flights are the latest trans-Atlantic crossings with the Italians coming first on February 5th with…
2016-07-22 When we recently visited the Air Combat Command, we were informed that at RIAT 2016, a session with four pilots had been held at RIAT 2016, which provided a perspective from the squadron pilot’s perspective. The pilots came from the USAF, the USMC, the RAF, and the Norwegian Air…
2016-07-07 By Robbin Laird When I visited Williamtown Air Base in Australia last March, I was given a tour to the bed down of the F-35 at the airbase and the shaping really of a fifth generation infrastructure for the evolution of the Royal Australian Air Force. The challenge put…
2016-07-13 The F-35B will be a staple for the USMC and the RAF and will fly with the Italian Navy as well. There are a number of other Air Forces which are clearly interested in the aircraft as well, including Israel, Singapore, Japan, and Spain. The plane can operate in…
Marines with Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron One and a Royal Air Force pilot with Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 successfully conducted the first ever trans-Atlantic flight of the F-35B Lightning II, June 29, 2016. The piliots highlight the ground up experience of the two services bringing the…
