2017-10-14 Many years ago, Second Line of Defense visited Eglin AFB prior to standing up of the F-35 training facility. Now that training facility has not only matured but is part of a global training network. Recently, Eglin saw a milestone achieved with the 500th F-35 pilot taking to the…
2017-10-06 By Robbin Laird and Murielle Delaporte Canada has placed a priority on anti-submarine warfare in its NATO contribution. According to the Royal Canadian Air Force Chief of Staff, Lt. General Hood, “I am exceptionally proud of our ASW capability and when I couple it with the new advanced capability…
2017-10-07 By Robbin Laird With the significant operational tempo on the US tanker fleet and with the inability to replace the older KC-135s expeditiously, the KC-10s have become a workhorse of the USAF tanker fleet. Earlier some questioned the value of a larger tanker in doing the wide variety of…
10/10/2017: In September 2017, Sweden hosted Exercise Aurora, its largest military exercise in nearly 25 years. The exercise involved nearly 30 per cent of the Swedish Armed Forces, as well as troop contributions from NATO Allied and partner countries - which joined on a bilateral basis. The goal of the exercise…
2017-10-05 By Robbin Laird The USAF has seen more than a decade in which a primary function has been to support ground operations. The USAF has served as Fed Ex, a flying gas station, a strike and ISR server in the sky for various types of ground operations. The end…
2017-10-07 By Robbin Laird This week has been certainly an interesting one. With Catalonia voting for independence, Spain and the broader European Union face a tough challenge. Clearly, cities and urban regions have become more important as the broader European framework of trade and economic relations have evolved. In many…
2017-10-06 By Gulshan Luthra and Air Marshal VK Jimmy Bhatia (Retd) New Delhi. The Indian Air Force (IAF) is finally set to issue a Request for Information (RFI) to the US Lockheed Martin for F 16 and to Swedish Saab for Gripen for acquiring 114 single engine combat aircraft. In an…
2017-10-06 Information war and hybrid threats have been honed to a 21st century art form by the Russians under President Putin. But these are really early days for shaping ways to deal with the IW/hybrid threat challenge and to deal more generally with the use of military power for limited…
