2014-07-29 by Robbin Laird On July 24, 2014, the first two Australian F-35s were on display and an official ceremony held to mark the event. Two visitors to the event highlighted its importance and provided context. The first was Frank Kendall, U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology &…
2014-08-04 According to a Eurofighter press release, and dated August 4, 2014, the first phase of tests for the integration of the Storm Shadow long-range missile onto the Eurofighter Typhoon has been completed. Storm Shadow is a long range, all-weather, high precision, stand-off weapon already in service on Royal Air…
08/03/2014: The Rim of the Pacific Exercise 2014, or RIMPAC, comes to a close after more than a month of exercises involving 22 nations and more than 25,000 personnel. Transparency was a much highlighted quality for the exercise, and the PRC had its own version of transparency on display with…
2014-07-28 By Robbin Laird and Ed Timperlake Far from the PR fighting fields of Farnbourgh, the USMC is preparing for a significant upsurge in the combat capability of the Navy Marine air/Ground expeditionary force. The first Squadron destined for initial operational capability (IOC) of the F-35B, are the “Green Knights”…
2014-08-01 By Harald Malmgren There is unspoken, but growing apprehension among central bankers that the Chinese financial market is vulnerable to serious, potentially systemic shocks. To put the measureable scale of debt exposure in perspective, China’s total debt to GDP ratio was 147% at the start of the Great Financial…
2014-08-01 By Dr. Mark Lewis I had the pleasure of serving as Chief Scientist of the U.S. Air Force from 2004 to 2008, including all of the time during which Mike Wynne was our Air Force Secretary. Working with Mike, and the USAF Chief of Staff, Gen Buzz Moseley, will…
2014-07-31 By Robbin Laird During my latest visit to Second Marine Air Wing, I focused upon the USMC evolution of its use of the KC-130J. I spent a morning in the KC-130J simulator watching Marine pilots hone their skills and did so from the tanker seat in the aircraft. [caption…
2014-07-28 by Robbin Laird In a recent article published by Leatherneck magazine, I have reviewed the nature of the distributed laydown mandated by the National Command Authority and the challenge of ensuring that a distributed force can work effectively organically, with the joint force and with allies. The full article…
