2013-11-08 By Robbin Laird Upon returning to the United States from Europe, I had a chance to reflect back on my visit to Italy and the discussions, which I had with senior officials about their approach to the F-35. I was able to do so with Rear Admiral Covella, the…
2013-11-08 by Brittney Warrick According to documents leaked by now former American defense contractor Edward Snowden, the United States’ National Security Agency (NSA) has for some time, engaged in large-scale efforts to target the communications of countries, embassies, political leaders, and diplomats worldwide. Over the course of a few months,…
2013-11-07 By Robbin Laird Having visited the Italian Air Ministry building and after this summer working through the history of military aviation in the 1930s, it was natural for me to explore the history of this striking building. The modernist building was constructed in the early 1930s and was used by…
2013-11-05 by Kenneth Maxwell On Monday, November 4th, the fallout of the Spying scandal continued in Brazil. The "Folha de Sao Paulo," Brazil's principal daily newspaper, reported that the Brazilian government, during the first two years of the Lula administration in 2003 and 2004, had spied on foreign diplomats in Brasilia, Brazil's capital, including Russia…
2013-11-05 by Thomas Enders, the CEO of EADS German outrage over high-level mobile phone surveillance continues unabated, sweeping the nation in repeated waves. Well-known anti-American agitators like Hans-Christian Ströbele have even journeyed to Moscow in order to castigate the US together with whistleblower Edward Snowden. The debate is starting to…
2013-11-04 By Robbin Laird The Italians were significant innovators at the beginning of the era of airpower. They continued throughout the history of airpower to innovate and with the launch of the F-35, they are proving to be innovators once again. Their facilities at Cameri provide support not only for…
2013-11-04 By Robbin Laird Some have argued that it is the end of the manned aircraft age and the birth of the unmanned one. But this seems to not have clicked with the global market, which will drive significant manned fighter acquisition in the next two decades. So-called unmanned systems, better…
2013-11-03 By Robbin Laird During my visit to Cameri in October 2013, I had a chance to visit the Cameri facility with Fred Napurano, the Italian Program In-Country Operations Lead for Lockheed Martin. Napurano is the key person interacting with Alenia Aermacchi (AAeM) to assist in the standup of the facility. The…
