2016-04-09 According to an article on the UK Ministry of Defence website, the Ministry of Defence has announced contracts worth 167 million pounds to upgrade and build new facilities at RAF Marham, the future home of the UK F-35B Lightning II squadrons. The contracts, which will create 300 new jobs,…
2016-04-08 Editor's Note: With all the fireworks about Donald Trump, what is missed is that both Trump on the Republican side and Sanders on the Democratic side represent rejections of the current state of affairs with regard to outsourcing manufacturing from the United States. It is no surprise that…
2016-04-08 By Robbin Laird The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps operate from ships supplied at sea by the Military Sealift Command (MSC). This Command is the crucial logistical lynch pin of the sea services, without which the United States would not have an effective maritime combat force. But the decline…
2016-04-04 By Robbin Laird Air Vice-Marshal Gavin Turnbull is the Air Commander Australia. Air Command is the operational arm of the Royal Australian Air Force. The Commander is responsible for all operational Air Force tasks, and reports to the Chief of Air Force. The Air Commander raises trains and sustains…
2016-04-07 By Robbin Laird A key part of the dynamic of change for the evolution of the Royal Australian Air Force’s force package has been with regard to sustainable lift. The first shift was when the C-17 entered the Air Mobility Group. As Air Commodore Gary Martin, now the air…
2016-04-06 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake During the OT-2 aboard the USS Wasp, a young British maintainer made a simple point about the F-35: Lt. Cdr. Kitchen from the Royal Navy commented during a round table aboard the Wasp in May 2015: “The F-35 can be surrounded by myth…
2016-04-06 By Robbin Laird Air Commodore Steve “Zed” Roberton knows about airpower transitions. He led the transition in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) from F-111 to Super Hornet, Commanded the RAAF’s initial Air Task Group to the Middle East, where for the first time the RAAF took an integrated…
2016-04-06 This report provides an update of the roll out of the F-35 as of March 31, 2016. The report is based on interviews with pilots, maintainers, testers and industrialists involved with the program. The F-35 is not a future program; it is here now. The Marines already have their…
