Mackenzie Eaglen | "Defense & Aerospace Report"
By Jamie Hunter, The WarZone: “The arrival of the first pair of Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning IIs at Eielson Air Force Base on Apr. 21, 2020, was significant on many levels. This remote installation is located 26 miles southeast of Fairbanks in the interior of Alaska and about 110 miles south of the Arctic Circle."
By Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics: “The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is scheduled to receive a long list of upgrades that will ideally keep it the dominant multi-role fighter for years to come.”
Project Blackjack: DARPA’s Leo Satellites Take Off
By Harry Lye, Air Force-Technology: “DARPA is working with Lockheed Martin on the first stage of satellite integration for project blackjack, a military low earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation. Harry Lye finds out more from the programme leaders.”
Trump Nominee to Russia: Abandon ‘Flying Chernobyl’ Nuclear Missile
From The Moscow Times: “U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee for a top arms control post in the State Department has said Russia should stop developing what he believes is a dangerous nuclear-powered cruise missile.”
U.S., INDIA:
U.S. and India are Deepening Military Ties - China is Watching
By Jane Doe, The Diplomat: “The U.S. military’s top officer in the Pacific urged Indian officials Wednesday to pursue even closer military ties with the United States.”
By Thomas Spoehr, RealClearDefense: “Bottom line: America definitely has a budget problem, but the Pentagon isn't causing it.”
Crafting Effective C2/ISR in the Contested Battlespace:
The Impact of the CNI System
By Robbin Laird, DEFENSE.info: “A key building block in reshaping what C2/ISR can provide for the combat force is how the F-35 is reshaping the combat forces of which it is a part."
Air Superiority Is Fundamental for the U.S. Air Force
By Jeff Harrigian, FOX News: "We must have a force that can compete, deter and win over near-peer adversaries in 2030 and beyond."
Air Power’s Future: Combat Aircrew Not Yet Surplus to Requirements
By Douglas Barrie & Nick Childs, IISS: “. . . with the United States and Europe working on concepts and designs for the next generation of combat air systems, the place of the pilot is again under scrutiny, as is the extent to which uninhabited systems will complement or replace crewed combat aircraft.”
By Mark B. Schneider, RealClearDefense: "In July 2020, Lieutenant Commander Joshua M. M. Portzer wrote, “The U.S. Navy should find this weapon horrifying. Naval Station Norfolk is the world’s largest naval base and houses approximately 75 ships and 130 aircraft. A single Kanyon detonation at Norfolk could wipe out half of the United States’ aircraft carriers and roughly a third of the surface Navy without warning. A coordinated attack against both Norfolk and San Diego ports would catastrophically cripple the Navy.”"
By Harlan K. Ullman, Proceedings: "The fire on board the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) is the latest in a series of mishaps that have plagued the U.S. Navy for a considerable time. The litany of misdeeds, disasters and mistakes is, sadly, long. It includes the Fat Leonard scandal, in which many naval officers succumbed to all manner of bribes and gifts and lead to the disciplining of more admirals and senior officers than during World War II, the 2017 ship collisions that killed 17 sailors, a number of high-profile acquisition failures, and an enormous backlog of ship maintenance."
By Jess Ward, Grounded Curiosity: “What do you see when you conceptualise the future of unconventional warfare? What an outstandingly complex, convoluted and complicated question."
By Malcolm Davis & Charlie Lyons Jones, The Strategist (ASPI): "Cold War dramatisations of nuclear tensions between the Soviet Union and the U.S. often had someone in the role of the zampolit, or ‘political commissar’. These officers were generally portrayed as rigid ideologues who monitored their colleagues for possible treachery. The PLA also has political commissars, and a fascinating report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies examines their role at sea and explains the unique ‘dual-command authority’ in which the commissar and military commander make administrative and operational decisions together."
By Ekene Lionel, Divergent Options: "With China’s focus on Africa’s rich resources is to fuel its own domestic economic growth, this has placed it in direct competition with the United States."