Building the Prince of Wales Aircraft Carrier: The UK Shapes a Second Large Deck Carrier for the UK Defense Forces

03/06/2015
2015-03-06  The Royal Navy is building two large deck aircraft carriers. This ship and the USS America are two ships built specifically with the F-35B in mind. The Queen Elizabeth will have its sea trials next year, and construction is moving apace on the Prince of Wales. According to a…

Preparing the U.S. Navy for 21st Century Warfare: The U.S. Naval Academy Trains Midshipman for Cyber Operations

03/04/2015
2015-02-23 By Ed Timperlake and Robbin Laird The Naval Academy Motto is; Ex Scientia Tridens –Through Knowledge Sea Power, and that captures the vision for a 21st century Cyber Operations Major being developed at the US Naval Academy. In preparing the U.S. Navy for 21st Century Warfare, the U.S. Naval…

HMS Queen Elizabeth Will Begin Her Sea Trials in 2016

03/03/2015
2015-03-03 One of the three large warships which will operate the F-35 is the HMS Queen Elizabeth. The ship is being completed and will begin its sea trials next year. It is the largest warship which the United Kingdom has ever built and incorporates several innovations which we will focus…

Operation IMPACT – Air Operations, Kuwait | Feb. 12, 2015

03/03/2015
03/03/2015: As part of Operation IMPACT, a CP-140 Aurora long-range patrol aircraft prepares for take-off in Kuwait. The Aircrew observe landscape below after take-off from the window of the CP-140. Credit: Canadian Ministry of Defence:2/12/15 A CF-188 Hornet fighter jet is prepared for its next mission - missiles are loaded.…

Japanese Submarine Arrives in Pearl Harbor

03/03/2015
03/05/2015: The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force(JMSDF) submarine JS Hakuryu (SS 503) arrives at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. Credit:Commander Submarine Forces Pacific:2/27/15  According to Wikipedia: The Sōryū-class submarines (16SS) are diesel-electric Attack submarines that entered service with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force in 2009. The design is an evolution of the Oyashio class submarine, from which it can…

Managing Defense Supply Chains: Shaping A 21st Century Way Ahead

03/01/2015
2015-03-01 When the F-35 is discussed, subsumed in the discussion is the evolution of defense supply chains. The F-35 is built around global supply chains, and the digital systems by which the aircraft is built is rooted in a triangular relationship among the digital systems used by suppliers, the final…

Visiting the F-35 Final Assembly Line, Fort Worth

03/01/2015
02/26/2015: By Robbin Laird I had not visited the Final Assembly Line or FAL in Fort Worth since late 2012. Much has changed as the line has matured, and a line stood up in Cameri, Italy and one being built in Japan. The first Italian FACO F-35 rollout will happen…