2014-12-13 The F-35 is not an airplane, but an air system. And one which will be global in character. Operationally, the impact of an integrated F-35 fleet will be significant. And no less so will be the global sustainment possibilities inherent in the program. The program has built in a…
2014-11-28 The UK has added new tankers and is starting the process of adding a new airlifter to its lift fleet, the A400M. This follows the first operational squadron being set up in France. According to a piece by Murielle Delaporte based on a visit to the French base: The…
2014-11-11 By Robbin Laird Standing up the Luke AFB Pilot Training Center: A Key Enabler of the F-35 Global Operations The F-35 is a global enterprise in the making. The impact of a global community of F-35 users on coalition operations will be very significant in shaping collaborative concepts of…
2014-11-19 By Risk Intelligence The Black Sea region has in the past 12 months been dominating maritime and political media reporting. [caption id="attachment_72342" align="alignnone" width="300"] Black Sea Ports. Credit: Risk Intelligence [/caption] There have been key political issues in the Ukraine and in Turkey. There has been as well the re-emergence…
2014-10-23 By Murielle Delaporte The French Air Force has activated its first 400M squadron. And it did not take much time for the new plane to be put to operational use. The A400M in the past months has been involved in various theater missions for Operations Barkhane in the Sahelo-Saharan…
2014-09-16 The arrival of the USS America in San Diego marks the completion of a two-month transit around South America from Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss. America is the first ship of its class, replacing the Tarawa-class of amphibious assault ships. As the next generation "big-deck" amphibious assault ship, America…
2014-08-28 Earlier, in our discussion with Major Summa, the executive officer of VFMA-121, the first operational U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) F-35 Squadron, the aviator emphasized the impact commonality was already having. Working with the other service pilots provides an important window on where we want to go with the concepts…
2014-08-07 By Robbin Laird An insertion force is characterized by strike, defense, lift, tanking and air battle management that can be effectively integrated to get to an objective area, and then to operate over and within until mission success. Sustainable reach is a fundamental operational objective. This means that lift…