Recently, the RAAF completed its first round of air-to-air refueling trials. According to an article published by Australian Defence Business Review on October 22, 2020: The tests were conducted over seven flights in designated airspace off the Queensland coast from September 22 to October 1 using the MRTT’s fuselage-mounted boom…
By Robbin Laird On November 17, 2020, a small number of journalists, most from the local Norfolk based media, flew from Norfolk Air Station to the USS Gerald R. Ford at sea, less than 100 miles off of the Virginia cost. We flew on the venerable C-2 Greyhound, but this…
By Richard Weitz The next U.S. presidential administration should build on the positive legacy of the Trump administration in strengthening the Indo-U.S. security ties. The two countries recently held the third round of their yearly “2+2” defense and foreign ministers’ dialogue in New Delhi, continuing a process launched in 2018.…
By Pierre Tran Paris. The European Union could raise a total of €30-€40 billion ($35-$47 billion) to finance work on defense and security projects, drawing on the €7 billion budget due to be pledged to the European Defense Fund, Thierry Breton, European commissioner for internal market, said Nov. 13. “With…
According to the Japanese Ministry of Defence: A free and open maritime order, which relies on the rule of law, is the foundation for the stability and prosperity of the international community. As the Indo-Pacific region is the core of the world’s vitality supporting more than half the world’s population,…
By Pierre Tran Dateline Paris. A scathing parliamentary report on the draft 2021 defense budget pointed up an imbalance of political power, with the executive arm withholding information from the legislature, while enjoying an exclusive right to approve the bill virtually unchanged. “Not only is the budgetary initiative a monopoly…
By Airman 1st Class Brooke Moeder, 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs The Royal Australian Air Force returned a majority of its F-35A Lightning II pilots, maintainers and aircraft to RAAF Base Williamtown, Australia, in December 2019, but still maintains a joint pilot-training and maintenance presence at Luke AFB. RAAF Maj. Christopher…
With the coming of Brexit and the continuing challenges to sort out the relationship with the Continent, a key question is how the two most significant defense players in Europe, France and Britain, will sort out their relationship going forward. We discuss this at some length in our new book…
