HMAS Brisbane, the second Australian-built Hobart class guided missile destroyer, was commissioned into Royal Australian Navy service, in Sydney, on 27 October 2018. The Prime Minister, the Hon Scott Morrison, MP; the Minister for Defence, the Hon Christopher Pyne, MP; and Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Michael Noonan, AO, RAN;…
Final preparations for the commissioning of Royal Australian Navy destroyer, HMAS Brisbane, the second of three warships built in Adelaide as part of the most complex defence project in Australia’s history, were full steam ahead leading up to her commissioning into service on 3 November 2018. [maxgallery id="120944"] Brisbane is…
By Robbin Laird During my visit to Denmark in October 2018, I had a chance to visit Fighter Wing Skrydstrup and my host for the day was “SON” Pedersen a 727 Fighter Squadron F-16 pilot and Electronic Warfare Office. He has around 1600 flight hours on the F-16 with 400…
By Kenneth Maxwell The second round of the Brazilian presidential elections took place on Sunday 28th October. The victor was the far-right populist former army captain, Jair Bolsonaro, with 55.13% of the votes. The first round had taken place place on October 7th. Jair Bolsonaro came very close to winning…
Taiwanese defense has become an even more significant factor as the PRC reaches out deeper into the Pacific. A key element of the effort to enhance Taiwanese defense capabilities is the process of upgrading its legacy F-16s. In so doing, a key element of the upgrade process is the incorporation…
By Robbin Laird During my recent visit to Denmark, I had the chance to visit the Royal Danish Air Force fighter base at Skrydstrup. Squadron 727 and Squadron 730 are both located there and are currently flying F-16s but getting ready for a transition to the F-35. According to the…
By Andrew McLaughlin The RAAF’s first F-35A engineering officer, SQNLDR Nathan Draper, has been recognised by the US with the awarding of a Meritorious Service Medal for his significant contribution to the establishment and sustainment of the Australian training, maintenance and engineering effort at Luke AFB in Arizona. Now a…
Belgium is a key member of the European Participating Air Forces (EPAF) group which has flown F-16s for three decades. Denmark, Belgium, Norway, the Netherlands and Portugal are the members of the EPAF. In a recent visit to Denmark, a key leader of the Royal Danish Air Force explained the importance…
