2015-06-03 By Robbin Laird As published by our partner India Strategic http://www.indiastrategic.in/topstories3766_A_Tale_of_Three_Carriers.htm Newport News, Pascagoula, Mississippi, and Rosyth Scotland. In the famous opening lines of Charles Dickens Tale of Two Cities, he noted that “it was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” So it is for…
2015-05-29 By Robbin Laird The continuous sorties of F-35Bs aboard on the USS Wasp on May 26, 2015 witnessed by visitors from the foreign and the U.S. press was almost numbing. There are six planes aboard the ship, 4 from the Green Knights squadron at Yuma and 2 from the…
2015-05-29 The Marines are the core customers for the V-22. And no military force in the world is more demanding of versatility than the USMC. A good example is how the Marines have driven multi-mission capabilities from their KC-130Js with the harvest hawk system. Here the tanker/lifter becomes weaponized and…
2015-06-02 By Robbin Laird When I first encountered maintainers of the Osprey several years ago at New River, North Carolina, those pioneers referred to themselves as members of the Osprey nation. As the Osprey became a reality for the USMC, and many Ospreys joined those early few, the term would…
2015-05-31 By Robbin Laird and Murielle Delaporte During the visit to the Boeing V-22 Osprey factory at Boeing’s Philadelphia site, we had a chance to sit down with the Vice President of Boeing Tiltrotor Programs, Kristin Robertson. Prior to her current role, she was the Deputy Program Manager of the…
2015-06-01 By Robbin Laird Today, the Commander of the Air Combat Command spoke at an Air Force Association breakfast meeting and discussed the way ahead for the ACC and for airpower more generally. He argued that today’s fights were seeing demand outstripping the supply of capabilities and clearly this worries…
2015-05-28 By Richard Weitz Despite all the attention paid to China’s island-building campaign and newly acknowledged naval ambitions, perhaps the most interesting discussion in the latest China Military Power report released earlier this month was the discussion of China’s nuclear forces. Indeed, China is also the only legally recognized nuclear…
05/30/2015: On May 26, 2015, several journalists flew to the USS WASP aboard an Osprey from the Pentagon to the ship, which was operating off of the North Carolina coast. In addition to viewing the ops of the F-35B aboard the ship, there was opportunity to talk with the crew…
