“Switzerland has no industrial or program stake in the program, and Swiss procurement, like the country, is largely neutral, so this reflects very well on the F 35’s overall technical appeal,” aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia of Teal Group says.
By Theresa HitchensA new approach to speed, scale and efficiency for the industrial base
Radars, EW, EO/IR, space imagery, and microelectronics are brought under one roof for a streamlined approach to common people and factories.
“I guess if someone were to take a message [from the basing agreement] it’s that we’re not restricted to one particular location,” said Gen. Steven Basham, deputy commander of Air Forces in Europe/Africa.
By Paul McLeary
The new fighters are part of a much larger modernization effort in Helsinki that includes replacing seven retiring guided missile ships with four bleeding edge multirole corvettes.
By Paul McLeary
It’s a global coming-out party for the precision munition, already used by the Israeli Air Force in Syria.
By Arie Egozi
Croatia, a NATO member, was ready to sign off on the largest defense deal in its history: $500 million for 12 Israeli F-16 fighters. But the State Department didn’t like the looks of the deal.
By Paul McLeary
The Russians played around at the edges of this month’s Trident Juncture exercise in Norway, but that was to be expected. New moves in the Baltic Sea, however, have some concerned.
By Paul McLeary
WASHINGTON: Within the next several weeks, both Russia and NATO will kick off some of the largest military exercises since the end of the Cold War. Hundreds of thousands of troops, tens of thousands of vehicles, hundreds of aircraft, and dozens of warships will charge into action in a series of mock engagements stretching from…
By Paul McLeary
A major overhaul is coming in software for missile warning
Space Systems Command’s FORGE program is the first, major missile-warning software modernization effort in 20 years.
As big defense firms line up to pitch their fighter planes to India, the government of Narendra Modi is demanding they build in India, something that might be at odds with the Trumpian America First philosophy.
By Paul McLeary
During the past couple of years, I’ve focused on the part of Europe which is very serious about defense, namely, Northern Europe. The Danes, the Norwegians, the Swedes and the Finns, all have refocused efforts on defense of their nations, but they’ve done so in a broader regional context. As my colleague Harald Malmgren…
By Robbin Laird
If the re-emergence of an assertive and occasionally belligerent Moscow was an unattractive possibility for Europeans of a cautious nature, an American president whose election campaign comments inadvertently or otherwise questioned his commitment to Article 5, the very heart of NATO, seemed unimaginable. Today, Europe is faced with both a Russia that is a strategic rival…
By Douglas Barrie
The F-35B isn’t flying again til Friday so you won’t see it here. Today was the first day of halfway decent weather at the biennial air show so we’ve got some pretty lovely flying and perspectives here. Enjoy!
By Colin Clark
The Paris Air Show is dominated by the commercial sector, which in terms of market and money is clearly more important than the defense aerospace market. But the simple size of that civilian market is not the most critical consideration. As the aerospace world meets in Paris in 2015, national survival is becoming a more pressing concern…
By Robbin Laird
The F-35 Lightning II European debut in July will be welcome, but it remains the Punch and Judy program of the defense aerospace sector, with boosters and detractors taking turns to bash each other’s argument as to the project’s value — or lack thereof. The debate, though sometime not worthy of the word, has risked…
By Douglas Barrie
Barring the collapse of the British government, London plans to unveil its Combat Air Strategy during the Farnborough Air Show. Unlike its Brexit strategy to leave the European Union, there is general consensus here around the broad thrust of the document: position the UK to remain a key player in the design, development and manufacture…
By Douglas Barrie