09/06/2016: 4th and 5th generation aircraft soared through the skies at Volk Field on Thursday morning as pilots had combat rehearsal training. Volk Field Combat Readiness Training Center hosted their annual Northern Lightning combat exercise which provides real-world conflict scenarios for active service personnel from the National Guard, Air Force, and the…
2016-09-01 By Robbin Laird A key speaker at the Williams Foundation seminar on air-land integration was the Chief of the Australian Navy, Vice Admiral Tim Barrett. Barrett’s speech focused on the opportunities and challenges of the largest recapitalisation of the Australian Navy since World War II. New submarines, destroyers and…
2016-09-02 By Robbin Laird © 2016 FrontLine Defence (Vol 13, No 4) After an extensive competition, the Australian government downselected the French firm DCNS to build a new class of advanced-capability conventional (diesel/electric-powered) submarines. The decision was announced on 26 April 2016, in a press release that stated: “The decision…
2016-09-05 By Richard Weitz With the death of Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov, the country’s political leaders are in the process of deciding who will be Kasimov’s successor. Predicting the country’s future leadership is difficult given that Karimov has been the country’s only president since Uzbekistan gained independence on August 31,…
Recently, The Cyber Brief interviewed the Marines leading expert on fifth generation aircraft, who is an F-22 and F-35 pilot among many other things. He had these choice words for the F-35 critics: The question of “Is it worth it?” has to be put into context. You can only determine…
2016-08-29 By Robbin Laird Prior to the latest Williams Seminar on shaping a 21st century joint force, I had a chance to meet and discuss the challenges with Rear Admiral Tony Dalton. He is the head of the Joint Systems Division of the ADF’s acquisition and sustainment group and has…
2016-08-31 According to a Press Release from the F-35 Joint Program Office dated August 22, 2016, the F-35 is ramping up its weapons testing. The F-35 Integrated Test Force (ITF) at Edwards Air Force Base, California, recently completed 25 missions comprising of 12 Weapons Delivery Accuracy (WDA) and 13 Weapon…
2016-08-31 According to a UK MoD story published on August 16, 2016, the RAF will be putting ASRAAM on its F-35Bs which means that this potent weapon will be available to the F-35B global user community. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has awarded a contract worth around £184 million to…
