Another Aspect of F-35 Culture Change: Building Out the Cameri Facility

11/03/2013
2013-11-03 By Robbin Laird During my visit to Cameri in October 2013, I had a chance to visit the Cameri facility with Fred Napurano, the Italian Program In-Country Operations Lead for Lockheed Martin. Napurano is the key person interacting with Alenia Aermacchi (AAeM) to assist in the standup of the facility. The…

The Italian Way of Procuring the F-35: Shaping a European Base for the Global Fleet

11/01/2013
2013-11-01 By Robbin Laird During my trip to Italy in October 2013, I was able to spend two days at the Cameri F-35 facilities and to then discuss my visit with two senior Italian Air Force officials, intimately familiar with the program and the Cameri effort. I sat down with Lt.…

Building Out an F-35 Fleet Sustainment Center in Italy

11/01/2013
2013-11-01 By Robbin Laird During my October 2013 visit to Italy, I spent two days at the Cameri F-35 facility. While there, I had a chance to discuss the facility and the approach of the Italians with Debra Palmer, Lockheed Martin’s General Manager at the facility. Palmer comes from a military…

The Zumwalt Leaves its Dry Dock

10/31/2013
10/30/2013: The Zumwalt-class guided-missile destroyer DDG 1000 is floated out of dry dock at the General Dynamics Bath Iron Works shipyard. The ship, the first of three Zumwalt-class destroyers, will provide independent forward presence and deterrence, support special operations forces and operate as part of joint and combined expeditionary forces.…