2017-11-13 By Todd Miller It’s early and the darkness feels more like night than day. Flight crew gathers at the 305th Air Mobility Wings (AMW) base operations, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst (JBMDL), NJ. Paperwork in order and mission plan briefed, we leave base ops for the aircraft. The sun cracks the…
2017-11-13 By Richard Weitz The joint presidential statement of November 11 on Syria was clearly the most important product of the intense Russian-US diplomatic dialogue that proceeded the Trump-Putin meetings in Vietnam. According to the State Department, “this statement really builds on months of fairly intense discussions with the Russians…
2017-11-16 By Todd Miller Regardless the virtues of the platform, Textron Defense Aviation LLC’s approach to build an aircraft tailored to military operations where no stated requirement exists is rare and risky. However, it is not risk taken in a vacuum, but rather an example of entrepreneurship that was inspired…
2017-11-16 The liberal democracies have much work to do to rebuild the forces and the shape an effective approach to crisis management in the Nordic and North Atlantic defense region. There are new capabilities coming to the region, notably the P-8s/and Tritons in crafting a maritime domain awareness capability and an…
2017-11-10 Dr. Harald Malmgren Europe is in a period of fundamental transition. French President Macron has put great energy into what sees as the next phase of European development, namely intensified integration of the EU member states into a common framework of governance. He has even called for a common…
11/16/17: The ground crew deployed with the KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) conduct a post flight inspection on the hose and drogue system of the aircraft. The inspection is looking for any damage, which may have been caused in flight. It is vital that the hose and drogue are…
2017-11-10 By Robbin Laird In a visit to Langley AFB on October 31, 2017, I had a chance to talk with Brigadier General Novotny, Deputy Director of Plans, Programs and Requirements at the Air Combat Command. I first met “Blend’r” when visiting RAF Lakenheath where he was the CO of…
11/15/2017: For the first time in a decade, three U.S. Navy Carrier Strike Groups (CSGs) coordinated operations in the Indo-Asia-Pacific. The USS Nimitz (CVN 68), USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), and USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) Strike Groups staged a complex series of air and sea exercises with Japan. According…
