2016-04-06 This report provides an update of the roll out of the F-35 as of March 31, 2016. The report is based on interviews with pilots, maintainers, testers and industrialists involved with the program. The F-35 is not a future program; it is here now. The Marines already have their…
2016-04-06 Late last year, the Kuwaitis and Eurofighter revealed that a deal was being negotiated for the GCC state to become the third member of the Eurofighter team, joining Saudi Arabia and Oman. The deal was formally signed this week between Italy and Kuwait. The deal is for 28 Tranche…
2016-04-02 We recently entered an office of a senior Navy Admiral who had a sign posted: “No drone talk here.” One good reason might be the wide variety of threats to operating drones, including this one, namely a Norwegian Eagle, the bird, not a code name for a plane. The…
2016-04-02 Nato has successfully concluded a cold-weather training exercise, Exercise Cold Response 2016 (CDR 16), which involved 12 member nations and partner countries. The exercise involved the land, maritime and aerial assets of 12 Nato and partner countries, more than 3,000 US service members and 6,500 members of the Norwegian…
2016-03-31 According to a Joint Program Office Press Release, a new weapon has been added to the bow for the F-35 as the archer. An F-35C Lightning II launched its first AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) over the Atlantic Test Ranges on 23 March. Test aircraft, CF-05, cleanly released the 1,000-pound air-to-surface…
2016-04-01 By Robbin Laird During my March 2016 visit to Australia to attend the Airpower Conference on Multi-Domain Integration and the Williams Foundation Seminar on New Approaches to Air-Land Integration, I had a chance to meet with Air Marshal Davies throughout those sessions and then to meet at his office…
03/31/2016: When visiting Australia in March 2016, the Brussels terrorism events had a major impact on the debate in Australia about how to deal with the terrorist threat closer to home. The Prime Minister of Australia gave a hard hitting speech which highlighted a tough immigration policy coupled with enhanced counter-terrorism…
2016-03-30 By Robbin Laird During the first day of the RAAF Conference on Airpower, I had a chance to sit down and to talk with the Deputy Chief of Staff of the RAAF, Air Vice-Marshal McDonald. This is the third time I have had the opportunity to interview him, initially…
