The F-35 Global Enterprise and Australia: The Opportunity for Allies to Learn How to Conduct Sustained Engagement Crisis Operations

12/08/2018
By Robbin Laird The RAAF F-35s on on their way to Williamtown and thereby opening the F-35 Aussie fleet operations in-country. As the Aussies work out their sustainment approach on the various airbases where the F-35s will operate in normal times as well as crisis times, the F-35 partners of…

The “Month of Living Dangerously”: French Unrest and Its Impact

12/07/2018
By Murielle Delaporte With the fiftieth anniversary of "May ’68" this year, many activist groups in France tried last spring to recreate it. It did not happen then, but a new effort has been launched in the past couple of months to make it happen, although the motivations, conditions and…

The RAAF Gets Ready for the Arrival of their First F-35s

12/06/2018
The RAAF is getting ready to receive their first F-35s in country on December 10, 2018. In preparation for the arrival in country, the Australian Department of Defence has generated a series of videos explaining the F-35 and its unique capabilities to the public. This one focused on the helmet…

RAAF F-35s on Their Way Home

12/06/2018
By Robbin Laird "Royal Australian Air Force personnel deployed to Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix, USA prepare the aircraft they will bring home in December 2018. Royal Australian Air Force pilots and maintenance personnel are embedded within United States Air Force units and partnering with Lockheed Martin to prepare…

Exercise Point Blank 2018-3: Working 21st Century Air Combat Teaming

12/05/2018
Recently, the RAF hosted the latest iteration of the Point Blank exercises. The French joined the exercise held in the UK for the first time this year. 26 fighter juets plus combat support units participated in the exercise held November 26, 2018 over the North Sea. Two UK F-35Bs, four…

The Chief of the French Air Force Focuses on the Way Ahead

12/05/2018
By Pierre Tran, Paris A planned F4 upgrade of the Rafale fighter jet will serve as technology demonstrator for network capability of the Future Combat Air System, said the Air Chief of staff, Gen. Philippe Lavigne. “Studies are fine but we need a demonstrator to see if the technology works,” Lavigne…

Remembering President George H.W. Bush: Germany, The Soviet Union and the First Gulf War

12/03/2018
By Robbin Laird It seems a world ago, that George H.W. Bush was President. He was the Vice President for a very controversial President, namely President Reagan and brought with him extensive foreign policy expertise. And this expertise was put to the test at a crucial turning point in history.…

HMAS Arunta Undocking After Major Upgrade

12/03/2018
On 28 November 2018, after more than 400 days out of the water, Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS Arunta undocked to finalise her midlife capability assurance program upgrade at BAE Henderson Dockyard, Western Australia. [maxgallery id="121586"] The upgrade included significant improvements to major platform systems such as the communications centre,…