By Robbin Laird Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 242 declares their initial operations capability (IOC) for the F-35B Lightning II on Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Aug. 25, 2021. VMFA-242 is the second combat-capable forward-deployed F-35B squadron assigned to 1st Marine Aircraft Wing. The importance of the F-35 and their…
The Future Combat Air System (FCAS) is a core initiative of the Macron Administration for both defense modernization and building out defense cooperation with its core Airbus allies, Germany and Spain. The Administration is committed to the modernization of their core combat fighter aircraft, the Rafale, for the next thirty…
The CH-53K King Stallion executing night vision goggle helicopter aerial refueling. It is the Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations vertical, long-range, heavy-lift, logistic backbone of the Marine Corps, today and for the next fight. Day. Night. All weather. Credit: NAVAIR July 16, 2021 Recently, Col. Perrin from NAVAIR provided an update on…
In this report, the key themes and presentations at the April 8, 2021, Williams Foundation seminar on Next Generation Autonomous Systems are highlighted. A number of interviews with participants are included as well as insights from earlier interviews from pre-COVID visits to Australia. In addition, selected articles are included in…
As the Commander of 2nd Fleet and of JFC Norfolk put it in a recent article in The Proceedings: “In response to Russia’s military resurgence, the U.S. Navy reestablished Second Fleet (C2F) in 2018, and NATO’s North Atlantic Council announced the formal activation of Joint Force Command Norfolk (JFCNF) in…
PACIFIC OCEAN (Apr. 14, 2021) An MV-22B Osprey assigned to Air Test and Evaluation (HX) Squadron 21 of Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Md., landing aboard Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy’s (T-AH 19) flight deck for the first time Apr. 14. Mercy is underway off the coast…
The Viper is the expeditionary strike helicopter flown by the USMC. The US Navy is in the throes of a significant transition to fighting as a fleet, rather than operating around classic carrier task forces. One aspect of the change is reworking how the amphibious fleet can operate within the…
CH-53K King Stallion takes first fleet flight - Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron One (VMX-1) at Marine Corps Air Station New River, NC, launch the CH-53K King Stallion on its first fleet flight January 15, 2021. The aircraft now enters a new phase of testing where it will be…
