2015-01-25 By Ed Timperlake Former CO VMFA-321 Recently I attended an Air Force association news briefing by Maj. Gen. Garrett Harencak, the AF general who oversees the service’s nuclear weapons delivery systems, and during this briefing he expressed his frustration with asserted facts journalism. “There are publications out there that…
2015-01-24 We have published several articles over the years, which have highlighted the approach and challenges of 21st century defense manufacturing, including several on the F-35 production approach. Recently, Steve Trimble of Flight International has visited the final assembly line for the F-35 in Fort Worth ( and one should…
2015-01-24 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake The coming of the USS Gerald R. Ford sets in motion a very different type of large-deck carrier. The hull form of the Ford is a tribute to the very successful Nimitz-class hull design. That is where the comparisons basically end. As the…
2015-01-23 The A400M has entered into service with the French Air Force concurrent with a change in the French Air Force (FAF) command structure and the growing importance of the European Air Transport Command (EATC). This means that the training, and operational approach of the new French command and the…
2015-01-22 When visiting the Gerald R. Ford and making the trek to the bridge, one notices quickly that the deck space in front of the island is significantly expanded over a Nimitz class carrier. We talked with the Captain and a construction engineer about the changes on our visit to…
2015-01-22 Murielle Delaporte, the Co-Founder of Second Line of Defense and the editor of Operationnels SLDS, is currently with one of the two NATO counter-mining groups. Her full report will appear on the Operationnels website and magazine. The change of command of the group is held twice a year and Dutch Navy…
2015-01-22 Second Line of Defense visited the next generation carrier CVN 78 (Gerald R. Ford) on January 9, 2015. We had a chance to interview the Skipper of the ship, Captain John Meier, and afterwards tour the ship with the Captain and senior construction personnel. We will publish the interview…
2015-01-20 Egypt is interested in procuring 20 Rafale fighter jets as well as two FREMM frigates from France in a potential deal worth nearly six billion euros. French newspaper La Tribune reported that France has offered two DCNS FREMM multi-mission frigates worth 1.8 billion euros and 20 Dassault Rafales worth…
