Visiting the Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center (NAWDC): July 2020

08/03/2020
By Robbin Laird The US Navy is in the throes of reworking its capability to prevail in the high-end fight while ensuring its ability to engage in full spectrum crisis management. There is no clearer proof of this judgment than the latest efforts at the Naval Aviation Warfighting Development Center…

Restored RAAF Mirage III Moves to RAAF Townsville Aviation Heritage Centre

08/02/2020
The transit of a restored Mirage III from RAAF Amberley to RAAF Townsville is underway. The Mirage III or the French Lady was a single seat frontline fighter that flew between 1967 and 1987 for the RAAF. It flew at a speed of more than 2,000 kms per hour and…

The Coming of CMV-22B to the Fleet: Next Steps

08/01/2020
By Robbin Laird In early February of this year, I attended the ceremony unveiling the Navy’s Osprey as the replacement for the C-2 for the logistics support mission. The Osprey seen in the ceremony was the second Osprey delivered to the Navy, as the first one had been delivered to…

MISR, MINOTAUR and Training for the Maritime Kill Web

07/31/2020
When I visited San Diego earlier this year, in my discussion with VADM Miller, he highlighted the importance of the coming of MISR to the fleet. MISR officers are trained as ISR subject matter experts to operate at the fleet or CSG level and to work the sensor fusion for…

Rafale Comes to the Indian Air Force: A Game Changer

07/30/2020
By Air Marshal (Retd.) Anil Chopra New Delhi. With war clouds on the Ladakh horizon, Indian Air Force (IAF) has received five Rafale combat jets, arriving at their Ambala airbase July 29. IAF has already conveyed that the pilots are already fully trained and ready for any designated operational roles…

Australians, Japanese and Americans Work Trilateral Passage Through Philippine Sea

07/30/2020
By Lieutenant Tanalee Smith Australia, Japan and the United States conducted a trilateral passage in the Philippine Sea en route to participate in Exercise Rim of the Pacific (Rimpac) in Hawaii. The Australian Defence Force Joint Task Group was joined in the Philippine Sea this week by the USS Ronald ReaganCarrier…

Misawa Air Base: The USAF and JSADF Cooperation

07/29/2020
According to a Japanese Ministry of Defence article published in July 2020, a recent exercise by the USAF and the JASDF was highlighted. Misawa Air Base is the Koku-Jieitai (Japan Air Self-Defense Force)`s only air base operated jointly with the United States. The joint use started in 1958. Currently, there…