Looking Back on the Career of “Turbo” Tomassetti

06/26/2013
06/26/2013: The bio of Col. Tomassetti follows but directly below are photos, which show moments in his career. [slidepress gallery='tomassetti'] Credit:  The first photo is from 1986 at the time of his graduation from USMC Officers Basic School.  The second and third photos are from 1987 and 1988 during flight…

NATO Enlargement and Moscow

06/26/2013
by Richard Weitz Despite their differences over Yugoslavia, the shock of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which vividly reminded Russian and Western officials of their shared security interests, led to a revival and restructuring of the NATO-Russian relationship. At the May 2002 NATO summit in Rome, the allies issued a joint…

French Train Nigerian Pilots

06/25/2013
2013-06-25 French company DCI has trained six Niger Air Force helicopter pilots and will train more aircrew under an extended contract. The six pilots, together with six flight mechanics, graduated with their diplomas in March at a ceremony held in Niamey, Niger. “This innovative project, supported by the presidency of Niger,…

The F-35 Program and Defense Industrial Innovation: The Case of ITT Exelis

06/23/2013
2013-06-23 One of the missing aspects in discussing the F-35 program is its impact on innovation in the defense industry. A case in point is ITT Exelis which is opening a new facility, in part triggered by an F-35 contract. But the composites to be built at this facility has…

The USN Receives its First F-35C at Eglin AFB

06/22/2013
[slidepress gallery='the-f-35c-arrives-at-eglin-afb'] 2013-06-22  Today, the USN received its first F-35c for its training squadron at Eglin AFB. According to a press release issued by the 33rd Fighter Wing: The U.S. Navy’s Strike Fighter Squadron VFA-101 is preparing to receive the Navy’s first F-35C Lightning II carrier variant aircraft from Lockheed…

Russia, NATO, and The Yugoslav Wars

06/22/2013
by Richard Weitz In March 1999 NATO bombed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. NATO claimed that the Yugoslav Security Forces were responsible for crimes against humanity and human rights abuse and cited these as their reasons for intervention. The bombing shocked Russia since it devalued Russia’s veto right as NATO…