The F-35, Tanking and the Fleet

06/18/2013
06/18/2013:  By Robbin Laird In these photos provided by the 33rd Fighter Wing, F-35As are being tanked by a KC-135.  The photos were shot from the tanker during the tanking operation. Earlier this year, I wrote a piece in the Canadian journal Front Line Defence on the F-35 and tanking,…

“Fly Before Buy”

11/15/2010
The Air Force Tanker Decision: A ‘Fairer’ Way Forward By Michael W. Wynne,  21st Secretary of the Air Force Credit: KC-135, http://www.aviationexplorer.com 11/17/2010 - The Air Force is confronting a conundrum that in 1998, the Government Accounting Office (GAO) called a mandatory replacement program for the aging tanker fleet.  There…

Re-visiting the USAF Tanker Impact on Con-ops

07/15/2010
Air Force Association White Paper Excerpts As the support functions ramp up, the USAF has relied more on the KC-10s to provide for the tanker gap.  And as the Administration moves forward to make a tanker decision, it is important to re-visit why tankers are so important to the US…

Special Feature – Alabama Governor Riley on the Future of Aerospace and Defense in the South

11/26/2009
Given the centrality of Alabama to two national competitions, i.e. the well-known tanker competition, but also the LCS one, George Talbot, political editor of the Mobile Press-Register and Robbin Laird (Sldinfo.com) sat down with Governor Riley of Alabama on November 17, 2009 to discuss the role of Alabama in aerospace…

USAF Tanker Competition: “Get on with it”

11/22/2009
George Talbot, political editor of the Mobile Press-Register has written a powerful column about the desire of the mother of a fallen hero in the wars in South West Asia to see the new tanker provided to the troops. "Get on with it," says Connie Gibson . "Whatever it takes."…