2015-12-23 By Robbin Laird © 2015 FrontLine Defence (Vol 12, No 6) Counter-insurgency (COIN) warfare has been the dominant template in U.S. military engagements for more than a decade. Joint warfare has been largely defined in terms of the air and naval services supporting the ground forces doing COIN. COIN…
2015-12-23 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake There is a growing literature on the challenges to U.S. forces facing more difficult combat conditions as competitors and adversaries enhance their capabilities. The anti-access, area denial challenge, in particular, has been a key theme as the sea services face the future; but…
12/18/2015: The F-35A Lightning II from the 33rd Fighter Wing, Eglin Air Force Base, at Tyndall Air Force Base is seen flying in support of Exercise Checkered Flag 16-01. Checkered Flag is a large-force exercise which simulates the employment of a large number of aircraft and is an opportunity to highlight…
12/18/2015: An F-35B Lightning II from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 121 conducts a vertical landing at a Forward Arming and Refueling Point (FARP) aboard Marine Corps Base, Camp Pendleton, Calif., Dec. 10, 2015. VMFA-121 marked another important milestone in the evolution of the aircraft conducting their first Close Air Support…
12/18/2015: LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. (AFNS) -- The first two Norwegian F-35s arrived here Nov. 10. Shortly after, a Norwegian pilot flew the F-35 Lightning II for the first time, in conjunction with the Royal Norwegian Air Force's birthday. The F-35 program took its first step forward, integrating partner nations…
2015-12-17 While the F-22, Typhoon and Rafale were working on ways to integrate higher end airpower at Langley AFB during the trilateral exercise, further south in Flordia, the USAF was working its legacy fleet with both the F-22 and the F-35. Given that the coming of the F-35 to the…
2015-12-17 By Murielle Delaporte “The Royal Air Force, the French Air Force and the United States Air Force are three little brothers, pioneers in the history of military aviation and born some fifteen years apart of each other –- respectively in 1918, 1934 and 1947 --We are to this day…
2015-12-15 The Second Line of Defense team joined the media day held by the Air Combat Command on December 15, 2015 to learn more about the trilateral exercise, which featured the F-22s, working with Typhoons, and for the first time with Rafales. We will have reportage on the discussions and…