Marines and Expeditionary Runways

01/14/2017
2017-01-14  According to a story published on December 23, 2016 by Cpl. Aaron Henson, Marines based at Iwakuni, Japan recently exercised their capabilities to employ expeditionary runways. U.S. Marines with Marine Air Control Squadron 4 Detachment Bravo, Marine Air Traffic Control Mobile Team, conducted aircraft landing zone training at Marine…

The 11th A400M Arrives in France

01/14/2017
2017-01-14 It is a new year and a new plane has arrived at the Orléans-Bricy airbase in France on January 6, 2017. This is the 11th A400M for the French Air Force. http://www.defense.gouv.fr/air/fil-d-actualite/le-11e-a400m-se-pose-sur-le-tarmac-de-bricy As the squadron commander for the A400M noted in our 2015 interview: One of the key advantages of…

Dutch Air Force Takes Baltic Air Patrol Lead

01/14/2017
2017-01-14 ŠIAULIAI, Lithuania On 5 January 2017, NATO’s Baltic Air Policing (BAP) mission entered its 43rd rotation since its beginning in 2004. After four months of leading the mission, France handed over the symbolic key to the Baltic Airspace to the Netherlands at the traditional ceremony held at Šiauliai Air Base. The…

Signing of Submarine Build Framework Agreement Between France and Australia

01/12/2017
01/12/2017: Prime Minister of Australia, the Honorable Malcolm Turnbull, and the French Minister of Defence, Mr. Jean-Yves Le Drian, visited Keswick Barracks in Adelaide on 20 December 2016 for the official signing ceremony of the Framework Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of the French Republic Concerning Cooperation…

A Look at the CIA’s Global Trends Report from South Africa

01/12/2017
2017-01-12 Our partner defenceWeb provided an interesting take on the Global Trends Report published each four years by the National Intelligence Council. By Jonathan Katzenellenbogen, Wednesday, 11 January 2017 The world is becoming more dangerous and difficult to govern with rising tensions between and within countries, growing nationalism and isolationism and slower…

The F-35 Global Enterprise: Reworking Collective Defense

01/12/2017
2017-01-09 A subtle but important contribution of shaping a global F-35 system is the US services and core allies deploy similar high-end warfighting capability at the SAME time. This means that there is collective learning of higher end warfare shared across the services and the coalition partners built in. When…

VMFA-121 on the Way to Japan

01/12/2017
01/12/2017: MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, California (January 10, 2017) Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121, an F-35B squadron with 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, departed Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, transferring to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Jan. 9, 2017. The first location to receive the Marine Corps' F-35B,…

France Completes Baltic Air Policing 2016 Rotation

01/09/2017
2017-01-09 According to a story on the French Ministry of Defence website. France has just completed its sixth rotation to the Baltics to participate in the Baltic Air policing mission. [caption id="attachment_93080" align="alignnone" width="300"] Mirage 2000-5 de l'Escadron de Chasse 1/2 "Cigognes" en vol dans le ciel de Lituanie dans le…