The F-35 is a “flying combat system” that will have an immediate impact on air capability with its initial deployment. The first squadron(s) of the aircraft will, for the first time, bring a C4ISR platform into the air combat domain.
The F-35 is intended as the replacement for the F-16. This interview with Chris Sheppard, a manager of USAF programs for Northrop Grumman Corporation’s government relations group, explores how the new fighter will execute future missions differently, as well as how the two fighters may work together during the transition.
Everyone knows that the F-35 is a stealth aircraft. This is one element of what makes it a fifth-generation aircraft. But what is not widely known is that the stealth or low observable (LO) character of the aircraft is significantly different from other stealth aircraft like the F-22. The F-35…
“Cyber-Exceptionalism” refers to the set of ways in which American provisions for protection and defense of citizens and property, the police and military protections, differ so significantly from the same protections in the Land, Sea, Air, and Space Domains.
The United States is a unique country in that its geographic isolation has spared it from depredations from strong neighbors. While shocking, Pearl Harbor and the terror attacks of September 11th, 2001 also serve as reminders of how infrequently the U.S. has been assaulted by outsiders.
When NASA’s X-43 flight test vehicle separated from its Pegasus rocket booster and accelerated to high-Mach speeds powered by an air-breathing scramjet, the premise and promise of hypersonic flight were forever validated. With a first Mach-7 flight in March 2004, followed by a Mach-10 flight in November 2004, the hydrogen-burning…
This article features an interview with Randy Brown, 308th Armament Systems Wing Director, and Lieutenant Colonel Amanda Kato, 681st Armament Systems Squadron Commander, 308th Armament Systems Wing, Air Armament Center, Air Force Materiel Command, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. This squadron is responsible for the acquisition, production, and sustainment of…
The war is not over; luckily we’re in a much better phase now then we were 2007-2008. The phase of the war we’re in now is to consolidate and expand gains and prevent resurgence of violence and the insurgent’s ability to re-shape the situation. The task in this phase of…
