2014-03-22 Excerpted from news.com.au March 22, 2014 BACK in the late 1960s the aircraft chosen as the nation’s key strike weapon into the new millennium — the F-111 swing-wing fighter/bomber — was derided as the “flying Opera House’’ or the “widow maker” due to cost blowouts, delivery delays and serious…
2014-03-22 During a visit to PACAF, Second Line of Defense had a chance to sit down and talk with Navy Captain Pat Connelly. Captain Connelly is currently the liaison from PACFLT to PACAF. This puts him in an interesting spot to live through some of the major changes occurring with…
2014-03-21 Recently, the Williams Foundation in Australia held a seminar in Canberra on the future of air combat. In particular, the seminar focused on the impact of fifth generation technologies and was built around a central set of presentations by operators of the impact of fifth generation aircraft on the evolution…
2014-03-21 by Robbin Laird After The Williams Foundation seminar, I sat down to discuss with one of the organizers of the seminar, Vice Air Marshall (Retired) John Blackburn his take on the questions, which posed to the seminar and how he thought those answers, were generated. The core questions, which…
2014-03-21 By Robbin Laird During my visit to Hawaii I had a chance to talk with senior PACAF staff working in the exercise and international affairs arenas. The command is in a good position as they’ve focused on working out approaches in the disposition of forces, and shaping effective working…
2014-03-21 During the visit of the Second Line of Defense team to New River on February 10, 2014, we had a chance to sit down with Lt. Col. Spaid to discuss his experience with the Osprey, the MEU, and the way ahead. Lt. Col. Spaid is taking over at the…
2014-03-19 By Robbin Laird Harald Malmgren has recently underscored that any focus on the Crimea without looking at the global context makes no strategic sense. And indeed, the day to day focus on events the days before is exactly what leads to missing the context of what the Crimean dynamic…
2014-03-18 While attending the Williams Foundation Seminar on Air Combat Operations: 2025 and Beyond, Dr. John Lee of the Kokoda Foundation provided a base line brief on how to understand the Chinese challenge, military and non-military to the region. The contribution of Aussie airpower and associated military capabilities was to…
