12/16/2016: We have recently interviewed the CO of VMFA-121 in Yuma in early December 2016 and will shortly publish his interview. But this story from a year ago discusses a milestone to the process of the squadron preparing for its deployment to Japan in 2017. Marines and Sailors with the 3rd Marine…
2016-12-15 By Ed Timperlake When reading a recent article on the Chinese illegal build out on islands in the Pacific, I was struck with what the images reminded me of from history. In an article on "China's New Spratly Island Defenses," published by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, several digital…
2016-12-11 By Danny Lam President Trump stunned the aerospace community by calling for the cancellation of Boeing’s program to replace Air Force One with a new pair of modified 747-800s, citing its $4 billion cost. Experts familiar with the program note the cost is not out of line given the…
12/10/2016: Maintenance personnel with Air Task group 630 are able to escape the heat and distraction on the flightline at Australia's main air operations base in the Middle East. A 4K Hangar - so named because it covers an area of 4000 square feet - has been constructed to allow maintenance…
2016-12-09 : PACIFIC OCEAN (NOV. 17, 2016) The F-35 Lightning II Pax River Integrated Test Force (ITF) wrapped up its third and final developmental test phase (DT-III) of the F-35B Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant aboard amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) on November 17. The Pax River…
12/06/2016: PACIFIC OCEAN (NOV. 17, 2016) The F-35 Lightning II Pax River Integrated Test Force (ITF) wrapped up its third and final developmental test phase (DT-III) of the F-35B Short Takeoff and Vertical Landing (STOVL) variant aboard amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) on November 17. The Pax River ITF’s…
2016-11-29 By Robbin Laird The Airbus tanker is the only advanced tanker in operations and has been so for several years. Airbus Defence and Space has sold tankers to a number of countries and has done so in what one might call national or serial sales. Getting the tanker sold, and…
2016-12-06 By Danny Lam President Elect Trump’s 10 minute phone call with President Tsai of Taiwan was a watershed event that marked the great divide between the Kissinger-Nixon era of foreign policy toward China and the Trump era. At the beginning of the Kissinger-Nixon era, the US was faced with…