2015-11-13 By Robbin Laird The first flight of Italian F-35 pilots occurred on November 5, 2015. The two pilots flew a USAF and a RAAF jet. The flight aboard the Australian jet highlighted the role of the partners in the F-35 program, and a harbinger of things to come. As…
2015-11-14 The first two Norwegian F-35 aircraft are seen arriving at Luke AFB, AZ and the first Royal Norwegian Air Force F-35 student pilot’s initial flight as well in the video below. Norway is one of the F-35 partner nations currently training pilots at Luke AFB. The two Norwegian F-35 jets…
2015-11-11 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake Counter-insurgency warfare has been the dominant template dominating U.S military engagements for more than a decade. Joint warfare has been largely defined in terms of the air and naval services supporting the ground forces doing COIN. COIN has become so dominate, that the…
2015-11-16 Dateline: Paris By Murielle Delaporte A new reality is born from the bloodshed which occurred in the streets of Paris last Friday. 8 terrorists, 7 points of attacks, 30 minutes, close to 500 persons hit by Kalashnikovs or explosives, more than 2000 relatives mourning a loved one, 64 million…
2015-11-15 The Wedgetail is part of the Royal Australian’s 21st century air power transformation effort and strategy. It is the core air battle management platform in the RAAF and is often referred to as an AWACs, although it is not. The underlying story of the approach to introduce the Wedgetail and…
2015-11-08 By Ed Timperlake The Honorable Allen Clark, a decorated combat veteran who lost both legs in Vietnam, has written two books that capture the Vietnam war perfectly and his challenging journey home. His book Valor in Vietnam, 1963-1977 Chronicles of Honor, Courage and Sacrifice should be on the shelf of…
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…
2015-11-03 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…
