09/21/2015: An F-16C from the 419th Fighter Wing, Hill Air Force Base, UT, escorts two F-35A Lightning II aircraft from Fort Worth, TX, to Hill AFB on September 2, 2015. The two Lightning II aircraft are the Air Force’s first two combat-coded F-35As to be permanently assigned to the 34th…
09/21/2015: The 388th Fighter Wing received their first two F-35A Lightning II Aircraft at Hill AFB, UT, on September 2, 2015. The two aircraft, tails 5071 and 5072, are both Block 3I jets, which provide initial warfighting capability. That includes data links, multi-ship sensor fusion ability, the updated Integrated Core Processor, and…
09/21/2015: The F-35 is being built on three final assembly lines. The main one is in Fort Worth Texas. The second one is located at Cameri Air Force Base in Italy. This facility will transition to a full up maintenance facility after its run of planes have been built. Planes…
2015-08-25 By Robbin Laird What is clear from my recent trip to the Pacific is that amphbiosity is a growing capability. This true not just in terms of nations building out capabilities and working with the USN-USMC team on ways to use that capability, but in terms of shaping more…
09/21/2015: The Osprey operates as a combat connector among ships in an operation and links with land forces as well. In this video, an MV-22 lands on the Japanese JMSFT ship Hyuga during Dawn Blitz 2015. Credit: Defense Media Activity - Navy:9/4/15 Marines and sailors with 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade…
2015-09-18 By Robbin Laird Air Marshal Geoff Brown retired on July 3, 2015 when Leo Davies became the new Air Marshal for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Although retired, no one would consider Geoff Brown retiring in any sense of the word. After having interviewed the current Air Marshal…
2015-09-19 By Robbin Laird © 2015 FrontLine Defence (Vol 12, No 4) The British invented carrier warfare – and now, with their new Queen Elizabeth Class of carriers, they are working their own version of the 21st century strike carrier. Using global lessons learned, they are reinventing the large deck…
2015-09-19 In June, the French Air Force received its 7th A400M. The aircraft delivered to France was the 13th production aircraft of 174 currently on order Then this month, the Royal Air Force received its 7th A400M. [caption id="attachment_80698" align="alignnone" width="300"] MSN 24, the 7th RAF A400M. Credit: Airbus Defence…