02/17/2016: Luke's first B-course students conducted their first training sortie in the F-35 getting ready for their combat deployment assignment.. LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. -- The Air Force’s first F-35 Lightning II basic flight course class took to the skies for the first time as they entered the live flying portion…
2017-02-14 The Merlin helicopters and their crowsnests will play an important role in the operation of the Queen Elizabeth carriers. Recently, Minister for Defence Procurement Harriett Baldwin has visited Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose, home of the Royal Navy’s Merlin helicopters. According to a story published by the UK Ministry of…
2017-02-14 According to a recent story published by the UK Ministry of Defence, the UK Minister has visited Italy for discussions with his counterpart. In meetings with his counterpart Roberta Pinotti, Sir Michael Fallon said Britain was a key ally of Italy and would not be stepping back from European…
2017-02-02 By Ed Timperlake and Robbin Laird President Trump has made it clear that a key priority in national defense is the defeat of ISIS. We have argued in an earlier piece that victory over ISIS can be conceived as follows: “Cutting the Gordian knot of endless engagement is crucial;…
2017-02-03 Red Flag 17-1 Commanders discuss changes to this exercise with participation from the F-35A. A number of key perspectives are provided throughout, ranging from the key role of the reserves, to the important role of the Wedgetail, to the F-22 squadron having already learned from the Marines with regard to…
2017-02-12 By Robbin Laird Last week, I attended an airpower conference sponsored by the Norwegian Air Force and held in Trondheim, Norway. The title of the conference was about the shaping of a fifth generation air force, but in reality the conference focused on multi-domain integration and defense transformation in the…
2017-02-12 By Richard Weitz The target of North Korea’s ballistic missile test this weekend, though aimed at the Sea of Japan, was President Donald Trump and visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who called the launch “absolutely intolerable" and demanded that Pyongyang respect all UN Security Council Resolutions prohibiting such…
2017-01-28 The Norwegian Air Force is to have a new Chief of Staff. According to a story published on the Norwegian Ministry of Defence website on January 27, 2017, Brigadier General Tonje Skinnarland was appointed Major General and Chief of the Royal Norwegian Air Force today (CRNORAF). “Skinnarland is an…