2016-03-30 By Robbin Laird During the first day of the RAAF Conference on Airpower, I had a chance to sit down and to talk with the Deputy Chief of Staff of the RAAF, Air Vice-Marshal McDonald. This is the third time I have had the opportunity to interview him, initially…
2016-03-24 By Edward Timperlake and Robbin Laird An organization is known by the individuals that make it successful, and there is no more demanding organization than a Combat Fighter Squadron. To become a successful fighter pilot it all begins with their first tour Squadron experience in beginning their personal journey…
2016-03-25 By Robbin Laird The RAAF’s Williamtown Air Base is the home of key current combat assets, the historic home of several legacy air assets, and the future home of a major part of the F-35 capability. This was my third visit to the base, the first being to 2nd…
2016-03-19 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake Our visits to Pax River provided insight into the East Coast team, which is completely integrated with the West Coast team at Edwards Air Force Base; the legendary home of the Right Stuff air combat innovators. In his seminal work about US military…
2016-03-19 By Robbin Laird The Williams Foundation hosted a seminar on new approaches to air-land integration. The terms of reference for the conference were as follows: Air forces need to be capable of delivering air and space power effects to support conventional and special operations in the land domain. Air-Land…
2016-03-07 Developmental testing is a fact of life for operational fleets. As one test engineer commented during our visit to Pax River, “we continue to do developmental testing on the Super Hornet here at Pax.” And with more than 50,000 flight hours on the F-35 fleet and an operational squadron with…
2016-03-10 By Robbin Laird When the first F-35 crossed the Atlantic from Cameri, Italy, to NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, the plane had been assembled in Italy and had only 15 flight hours illustrating the confidence of Lockheed Martin and the Italian Government (and Italian pilot) in the maturity of the…
2016-03-08 The F-35 is a first generation information age combat aircraft. The USAF is training with this in mind, and has started the process of preparing the Air National Guard as well for the transition. According to a piece published February 16, 2016, by Airman 1st Class Andrea Posey, the…
