NATO’s Tactical Leadership Programme 18-4: Amendola Air Base, Italy and Italian F-35s Shape a Way Ahead

12/09/2018
By Robbin Laird Normally, the TLP is held in Spain at Albacete Airbase. We visited Albacete Airbase in 2016 and talked with Spanish Air Force pilots concerning their Eurofighter operations at the base. As we noted at the time: “Albacete flies a regular Quick Reaction Alert force to provide for…

The F-35 Global Enterprise and Australia: The Opportunity for Allies to Learn How to Conduct Sustained Engagement Crisis Operations

12/08/2018
By Robbin Laird The RAAF F-35s on on their way to Williamtown and thereby opening the F-35 Aussie fleet operations in-country. As the Aussies work out their sustainment approach on the various airbases where the F-35s will operate in normal times as well as crisis times, the F-35 partners of…

The “Month of Living Dangerously”: French Unrest and Its Impact

12/07/2018
By Murielle Delaporte With the fiftieth anniversary of "May ’68" this year, many activist groups in France tried last spring to recreate it. It did not happen then, but a new effort has been launched in the past couple of months to make it happen, although the motivations, conditions and…

RAAF F-35s on Their Way Home

12/06/2018
By Robbin Laird "Royal Australian Air Force personnel deployed to Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix, USA prepare the aircraft they will bring home in December 2018. Royal Australian Air Force pilots and maintenance personnel are embedded within United States Air Force units and partnering with Lockheed Martin to prepare…

Exercise Point Blank 2018-3: Working 21st Century Air Combat Teaming

12/05/2018
Recently, the RAF hosted the latest iteration of the Point Blank exercises. The French joined the exercise held in the UK for the first time this year. 26 fighter juets plus combat support units participated in the exercise held November 26, 2018 over the North Sea. Two UK F-35Bs, four…

The Chief of the French Air Force Focuses on the Way Ahead

12/05/2018
By Pierre Tran, Paris A planned F4 upgrade of the Rafale fighter jet will serve as technology demonstrator for network capability of the Future Combat Air System, said the Air Chief of staff, Gen. Philippe Lavigne. “Studies are fine but we need a demonstrator to see if the technology works,” Lavigne…

A Conversation with Naval Aviator and a True Superman: The Emerson Carr Story

12/04/2018
By Ed Timperlake USNA 69 As we approach the Army-Navy game this coming Saturday, we want to honor an earlier Naval football star who has gone on to life an incredible life. And this week, we are honoring as well another heroic naval aviator, President George H.W. Bush. William Faulkner in…

Remembering President George H.W. Bush: Germany, The Soviet Union and the First Gulf War

12/03/2018
By Robbin Laird It seems a world ago, that George H.W. Bush was President. He was the Vice President for a very controversial President, namely President Reagan and brought with him extensive foreign policy expertise. And this expertise was put to the test at a crucial turning point in history.…