Next Step in HMS Queen Elizabeth Coming to Life: The Starting of Its Diesel Engines

06/29/2015
2015-06-29 According to a story on the UK Ministry of Defence website published June 25, 2015, the next steps in bringing the HMS Queen Elizabeth to life have been taken. The 65,000 tonne future flagship of the Royal Navy has undergone months of preparation work by the Aircraft Carrier Alliance…

An Update on F-35 Maintenance: The Perspective from the USS WASP and From MCAS Beaufort and Yuma

06/28/2015
2015-06-22 By Robbin Laird During a visit to MCAS Yuma in 2012, I met with many Marines and others involved in the standup of the F-35 at that base. https://sldinfo.com/hangar-80-at-yuma-air-station-a-building-block-for-f-35-global-presence/ https://sldinfo.com/the-f-35-squadron-at-yuma-the-next-phase-begins/ During the visit, in a meeting with maintainers, the early process of standing up the aircraft and maintaining it…

Terrorist Strikes in the Euro-Med Region

06/27/2015
2015-06-27 We have argued earlier that a Euro-Med region has emerged which has virtually become a single defense and security operational area. The terrorists certainly think so. In a piece published recently by our partner Rivista Italiana Difesa, Pietro Batacchi looks at recent events. Terrorism has returned to strike with…

Preparing the F-35B for HMS Queen Elizabeth: Ski Jump Testing

06/24/2015
2015-06-24  The ski jump is a feature on UK warships which have operated the Harrier and will operate the F-35B. The joint UK-US test team at Pax River has recently completed the first test of the ski jump for the F-35B. In the photos below, there are three shots of…