We have argued for some time that the introduction of fifth generation aircraft into legacy fleets was part of a process we have called the “re-norming” of airpower. We have even published a book with that title. When we discussed the time when Lt. Col. “Chip” Berke came to Nellis…
2013-12-13 South Africa has one of the most capable naval forces on the continent, but it is geared towards battles and not patrol capability, argues Magnus Lewis-Olsson, chief executive of Saab Grintek Defence (SGD) South Africa. This year, with the SA National Defence Force’s (SANDF) mission in the Democratic Republic of…
2013-12-13 In a phone interview with Lt. Col. Berke, the Commanding Officer, VMFAT-501, the continued progress of the F-35B towards its initial operating capability or IOC in 2015 was underscored. Recently, the 33rd Fighter Wing, highlighted a four hour sortie generation training exercise. According to the 33rd FW the F-35 enterprise…
2013-12-13 by Robbin Laird In spite of economic difficulties in the U.S. and Europe, the decade ahead will be a significant one in the purchase and deployment of new fighter aircraft. No countries are more important in this evolution outside of Europe and the Asian Rim than India and Brazil.…
2013-12-13 by Kenneth Maxwell President Francois Hollande has just completed a two day State Visit to Brazil. He was returning from South Africa where he had attended the ceremonies in Pretoria for Nelson Mandela. He stopped over in the Central African Republic on the way to Brazil where he has committed French troops.…
12/12/2013: A Marine F-35B Lightning II breaks left out of a formation flight with United Kingdom F-35B aircraft over Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Dec. 4. The joint-program reached a new single-day record for F-35 sorties Dec. 4 with 45 training missions between all three models of the aircraft. The…
2013-12-12 One hundred and thirty-five Chinese peacekeepers arrived in Mali’s capital Bamako last week in China’s first deployment of forces for a peacekeeping mission. The personnel complement that arrived last Tuesday includes 35 engineers, 65 medical staff and 35 soldiers. They are the first of 395 personnel that China is sending…
2013-12-10 by Guy Martin France is deploying a sizeable number of aircraft, including transport and combat helicopters, to the Central African Republic (CAR) as part of its intervention force there, which aims to improve the fragile humanitarian situation in the country. Other nations, including the United States and United Kingdom,…
