2014-08-07 By Robbin Laird An insertion force is characterized by strike, defense, lift, tanking and air battle management that can be effectively integrated to get to an objective area, and then to operate over and within until mission success. Sustainable reach is a fundamental operational objective. This means that lift…
2014-08-10 By Robbin Laird Vladimir Putin has returned Russia to the world stage in rather dramatic fashion. The seizure of Crimea from Ukraine is the most obvious statement of Russian power, yet this seizure could obscure the broader strategy and focus of attention. Putin is really an energy czar, running…
2014-08-10 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake Iraq 2014 is not Iraq 2003. Following the invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the US started on the path of the reconstruction of the country. A key approach followed, notably in the surge and thereafter, a counter-insurgency or COIN…
2014-08-09 F/A-18 Super Hornets are launched and recovered aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) while underway in the Arabian Gulf. Bush is operating in the Arabian Gulf on a scheduled deployment to U.S. 5th Fleet. The president has authorized U.S. Central Command to conduct military operations…
2014-08-04 Some years ago, the former head of the F-35 program and then director of the USAF Air Armaments Center at Eglin Air Force Base, General “CR” Davis highlighted the importance of new weaponry. In this case he focused on a legacy weapon, the AMRAAM. Maj. Gen. Charles Davis, director…
2014-08-08 By Ed Timperlake and Robbin Laird We have focused from the outset on the maintainability of the F-35 and the roll out of real world experience in shaping the maintenance regime. We argued earlier that letting the operators shape the operational path for the F-35 makes a lot of…
2014-08-04 By Ed Timperlake and Robbin Laird During our recent visit to Yuma Marine Corps Air Station, we talked with officers from both the VFMA-121 Squadron and MAWTS-1. VFM-121 brought us up to speed on the rollout of the F-35B to IOC next year; MAWTS-1 provided us a perspective on…
2014-08-08 By Robbin Laird The USS America is the largest amphibious ship ever built by the United States. The ship has been built at the Huntington Ingalls shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi and departed mid-July for its trip to its initial home part at San Diego, California and then will be…
