2015-11-03 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake The Russian intervention in Syria crosses a strategic threshold. Russia has used a small but decisive air and naval force to side with Assad to protect his regime and specifically Damascus. So far the introduction of a relatively small number of combat aircraft…
The impact of the F35 as a global coalition capability is clear to the professionals who are shaping airpower modernization. For example, the head of the Italian Air Force, Lt. General Preziosa hammered home the point of how significant the impact of the F-35 was in a recent interview in…
2015-11-09 By Robbin Laird We have argued for some time that as the F-35 got into the hands of the warriors, the renorming revolution started with the the F-22 would accelerate. We have also highlighted for some time, that the F-35 is not simply an airplane, but a global air…
2015-11-09 By Robbin Laird (Originally published 2015-10-09) The Eurofighter is a clear player in shaping European and global air forces. It has reached critical mass and will be modernized through its operational life to work with new air assets and to deal with the evolving threat environment. The program currently has…
2015-11-09 Both the British and Italian air forces are retiring their Tornados and handing many of its missions to the Eurofighter. A key part of that transition is expanding the range of missiles carried by Eurofighter. In an earlier article, Lars Joergensen explained the modernization approach. It is clear that a…
2015-11-08 As an Italian pilot put with regard to his experience with the F-35. Question: When we spent time with the Brits and the Marines, we learned that they flew each other’s aircraft, and you did the same by flying USAF and Aussie F-35s. Could you explain how unusual this…
2015-11-03 Both the UK and Italy will operate a mixed Eurofighter and F-35 fleet. Both have operated the Tornado, which is reaching the end of its service life. Both will sort through evolutions of the Eurofighter to encompass some of the mission sets for Tornado as the Tornado is retired…
2015-11-08 By Richard Weitz The United States and European allies and partners can respond more effectively against the kinds of hybrid threats we gave been discussing on Second Line of Defense. NATO can take actions, primarily in the military and intelligence fields, to deter and counter direct Russian threats against…
