“The Plane is a Broker of Information”: A Conversation with Mike Skaff

02/25/2015
2015-02-25 By Robbin Laird The F-35 has entered aviation history at a juncture where information dominance is clearly recognized as the pivotal discriminator in 21st century air enabled defense operations. For the F-35, the cockpit design coupled with the breakthrough pilot helmet synergistically operating with the cockpit is a foundational…

Shaping an S-Cubed Combat Revolution: Preparing for the Coming Hypersonic Cruise Missile Threat

02/24/2015
2015-02-18 By Ed Timperlake “You know that stealth may be over-rated,” Admiral Greenert, the Chief of Naval Operations, recently noted during a speech at the Office of Naval Research Naval Future Force Science and Technology Expo, Washington D.C. “I don’t want to necessarily say that it’s over but let’s face…

The F-35’s Distributed Aperture System: An Update from Rolling Meadow and Sydney’s North Shore

02/24/2015
2015-02-22 The distributed aperture system or DAS is a key set of sensors on the F-35 which provides data for the fused cockpit system and the helmet display. In an interview which we did at Pax River with a USMC test pilot in the spring of 2010, it was clear…

The Launch of Plan Jericho: The RAAF Lays Down its Transformation Strategy

02/24/2015
2015-02-24 Earlier, we highlighted the coming of Plan Jericho to the Australian defense forces. As Air Marshal Brown noted on May 29, 2014: I intend to release Plan Jericho, the RAAF transformation plan, in early 2015. It will guide our force transformation, enabled by our new 5th Gen capabilities, over the…

Heading to Afghanistan: U.S. Marines Work With Georgian Soldiers for Upcoming Deployment

02/24/2015
2015-02-24 U.S. Marines with the Second Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, a part of the Georgian Liaison Team, join forces with the 43rd Georgian Infantry Battalion during a Close Air Support Exercise at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center, Hohenfels, Germany. Marines with the Georgian Liason Team participate in a Situational…

The European Union and the East: The Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Looks to the Future

02/23/2015
2015-02-23 Recently, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, the research arm of the German Social Democratic Party, sponsored a look at the future with regard to the European Union and the East. According to the foundation: The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung has invited 20 experts from all over Europe to jointly develop four scenarios for relations between…