European Defense: Save, Cut And Sustain

11/28/2010
European Defense: Save Money, Cut Forces, Sustain Afghan Commitments (for now) [caption id="attachment_13394" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="(Credit: The Hudson Institute)"][/caption] By Dr. Richard Weitz 11/28/2010 - The 1998 St. Malo Declaration between Britain and France, which inaugurated the European Security and Defense Policy, declared that: “The Union must have the capacity…

Waging the Future Fight

11/23/2010
Budget Decisions and the Future of the Martial Enterprise By Vince Martinez Budget Freeze: the F-22 Raptor has been one of the first victims Credit photo: www.flightgear.org 11/23/2010 - Decisions, Dollars and the Future It is no surprise that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and the MV-22 Osprey are…

Osprey: a heavier medium-lift capacity

11/18/2010
An Update from New River (V) [download PDF of full report] An Interview With Lieutenant-Colonel Garcia on the Osprey in Iraq and Afghanistan 11/18/2010 - Lieutenant-Colonel Garcia discussed his time in Iraq and Afghanistan involving both rotorcraft and the Osprey. The tiltrotor craft was used differently in the two countries…

An Update on the Eglin F-35 Training Facility

11/18/2010
An Interview With Colonel Arthur Tomassetti 11/18/2010 - In October 2010, Second Line of Defense visited the F-35 training facility located at Eglin AFB. This is a return visit with the first report emanating from a January 2010 visit.  This report provides an update on progress at the training facility,…

The F-35 Seat’s Enhanced Maintainability

11/18/2010
An Interview With Armando Martinez 11/18/2010 - During a visit to the Lockheed Martin F-35 facility mid-September, “Mondo” Martinez was interviewed with regard to the new seat in the F-35, which represents an important increase in maintainability.  On average, what takes the F-16 maintainers more than three hours to do…

The Arctic Sea Competition and Key Strategic Challenges for Europe (Part One)

11/18/2010
By Caroline Mükusch German Correspondent, Second Line of Defense 11/18/2010 - The opening of the Arctic raises simultaneously energy security, environmental questions, and strategic competition.  There are five states which claims based on extensions of their rights under international law to parts of the Arctic region: Norway, Denmark (Greenland), Russia,…

The F35B: “Not Just Gas And Go”

11/17/2010
The F-35B has a unique war winning capability By The Honorable Ed Timperlake Credit: F-35B, http:// www.youtube.com 11/17/2010 - In the not two distant future the US Navy/Marine and USAF team may have to establish presence from the sea in a potential combat theater. The threat will be great: friendly…