2016-12-16 By Robbin Laird The last time I met with Admiral Zukunft was when he was working at the USCG headquarters in California and responsible for USCG Pacific operations. Later he would become Commander, Coast Guard Pacific Area as well. We had a chance to discuss his perspective on the…
2016-12-06 By Todd Miller Statistics, Milestones, Capabilities, Flight characteristics, Test protocols, Cost, Software blocks. It is easy to get lost in the complexity of the F-35 program. The combined F-35 fleet now has over 75,000 flight hours, yet for many there remains a lack of understanding. Much of this can…
12/15/2016: Marine Col. George Rowell, the CO of VMX-1 at the Farnborough International Airshow 2016 (FIA16) discusses the visit to the Farnbourgh Airshow this past summer. VMX-1 is working the con ops of integrating the F-35B with the Osprey and the CH-53K for the MAGTF and we did interviews with VMX-1…
2016-12-15 By Ed Timperlake When reading a recent article on the Chinese illegal build out on islands in the Pacific, I was struck with what the images reminded me of from history. In an article on "China's New Spratly Island Defenses," published by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, several digital…
2016-12-11 By Danny Lam President Trump stunned the aerospace community by calling for the cancellation of Boeing’s program to replace Air Force One with a new pair of modified 747-800s, citing its $4 billion cost. Experts familiar with the program note the cost is not out of line given the…
12/10/2016: Maintenance personnel with Air Task group 630 are able to escape the heat and distraction on the flightline at Australia's main air operations base in the Middle East. A 4K Hangar - so named because it covers an area of 4000 square feet - has been constructed to allow maintenance…
2016-12-09 : PACIFIC OCEAN (NOV. 17, 2016) The F-35 Lightning II Pax River Integrated Test Force (ITF) wrapped up its third and final developmental test phase (DT-III) of the F-35B Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant aboard amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) on November 17. The Pax River…
12/09/2016: PACIFIC OCEAN (NOV. 17, 2016) The F-35 Lightning II Pax River Integrated Test Force (ITF) wrapped up its third and final developmental test phase (DT-III) of the F-35B Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant aboard amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) on November 17. The Pax River ITF’s…
