Japan and the UK: Enhancing Their Defense Cooperation

01/17/2016
2016-01-17 When Norway brought its Aegis system into the Pacific and the UK announced in 2013 that they were going to enhance their defense cooperation with Japan, it should have been clear that Northern Europe/UK and Japan were opening a new page. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-secretary-signs-groundbreaking-defence-and-security-agreements-with-japan And the as the Northern sea route opens…

F-35 Lightning II DT-II Wrap Up Video

01/14/2016
2016-01-14 The Second Line of Defense team visited Pax River's F-35 Integrated Test Force in early January 2016. We are preparing a set of interviews which highlight not only progress towards the introduction of the F-35C into the carrier air wing but the way ahead for the air wing under…

Enhancing Their Arctic Capabilities: The Russians Add a Rotarywing Capability

01/12/2016
2016-01-12  The Russians are building an Arctic capable rotorcraft fleet for commercial and military purposes. Late last year, the Russian Defense Ministry took delivery of its first Mi-8 ANTSh-V for Arctic missions. This version of the Mi-8 was developed for operations below -40C. “The wealth of expertise we built up…

Maritime Raid Force Trains in Japan

01/10/2016
2016-01-10  Recently, during an exercise in Japan, the USMC worked an interoperability force insertion effort with various Marine Corps units working together with the participation of a USAF JTAC. According to a story by Cpl. Thor Larson published on 12,27,15: CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, Japan – It’s the middle of the…