06/15/2015:Australia now has the most advanced air battle space management capability in the world, with the Royal Australian Air Force’s E-7A Wedgetail aircraft achieving Final Operational Capability. The fleet of six Wedgetail aircraft reached the milestone this month with the entire capability, from physical aircraft to logistics, management, sustainment, facilities…
2015-05-29 The Marines are the core customers for the V-22. And no military force in the world is more demanding of versatility than the USMC. A good example is how the Marines have driven multi-mission capabilities from their KC-130Js with the harvest hawk system. Here the tanker/lifter becomes weaponized and…
2015-06-02 By Robbin Laird When I first encountered maintainers of the Osprey several years ago at New River, North Carolina, those pioneers referred to themselves as members of the Osprey nation. As the Osprey became a reality for the USMC, and many Ospreys joined those early few, the term would…
2015-05-31 By Robbin Laird and Murielle Delaporte During the visit to the Boeing V-22 Osprey factory at Boeing’s Philadelphia site, we had a chance to sit down with the Vice President of Boeing Tiltrotor Programs, Kristin Robertson. Prior to her current role, she was the Deputy Program Manager of the…
2015-05-28 By Robbin Laird Arriving at Boeing’s Philadelphia site, one is presented with a large industrial park where Boeing produces the venerable Chinook and a significant part of the world’s only military tiltrotor aircraft, the Osprey. And on the Boeing line, CV-22s as well as MV-22s are produced with the…
2015-04-10 By Air Marshal Jimmy Bhatia (Retd.) and Guishan Luthra New Delhi. The Indian Air Force (IAF) will acquire 36 Rafale combat aircraft in flyaway condition from France, double the originally stipulated number of 18 in the 2007 tender for a total of 126 Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA).…
04/08/2015:A C-5M Super Galaxy aircrew from Travis Air Force Base claimed 45 aeronautical records in one flight, positioning the U.S. military’s largest airframe as the world’s top aviation record holder with a total of 86 world records. The flight from Travis AFB established standards in 45 previously unset categories. The…
2015-03-27 By Robbin Laird The supply side of the amphibious fleet has gone down over the past two decades. The amphibious ship fleet inventory has been reduced by 50% over the past twenty years and will operate in the range of 28-33 ships in the foreseeable future. The demand side…
