POW/MIA: Of “Thuds,” ROLLING THUNDER and an Airman From Red Wing – 1965

By 1965, the US participation in Vietnam was reaching a juncture where it could choose to disengage (and thus concede the loss of South Vietnam to the Communist juggernaut – which then would then sweep across the rest of the SE Asia landscape).  It could “stay the course,” with a limited ground role using advisers…

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USAF Releases FY2010 Force Structure Plans

In a nutshell: Nuclear Deterrence mission: “Back-to-basics”, increase by 2,000 number of nuclear support personel, add a 4th B-52 sqdn TACAIR: Accelerate retirement of 254 F-15, F-16 and A-10 a/c, validate remaining service life of residual legacy TACAIR a/c Space: Field new satellites including the Global Positioning Satellite Block IIF, Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF),…

Flightdeck Friday: MIA Edition – Vietnam War Era Pilot Identified

First, the official release: Pilot Missing in Action From The Vietnam War is Identified The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors. He…

Is the F-35 the Next DDG-1000? – UPDATED

UPDATED 13 Oct 08 – see below the “More” line… – SJS No military service currently demonstrates that it has leaders that can create affordable procurement programs. Every service has, to some extent, mortgaged its future by failing to contain equipment costs, and by trading existing equipment and force elements for developing new system that…

Of Wargames, JSFs and Baby Seals (II)

“Be modest about what military force can accomplish, and what technology can accomplish. The advances in precision, sensor, information and satellite technology have led to extraordinary gains in what the U.S. military can do…But also never neglect the psychological, cultural, political, and human dimensions of warfare, which is inevitably tragic, inefficient, and uncertain. Be skeptical…

Of Wargames, JSFs and Baby Seals (Part I)

“The federal opposition has dismissed new doubts about the capacity of the multi-billion dollar Joint Strike Fighter to perform against jets used by Russia and China.  The JSF jets, for which Australia is likely to pay $16 billion, were comprehensively beaten in highly classified simulated dogfights against Russian-built Sukhoi fighter aircraft, it has been reported….

Flightdeck Friday (III) – Red Flag ’08 Edition

Red Flag has always been a varsity exercise and in recent years, it has seen increased participation from allies and friends.  This year has been no exception with Brazil (F-5s), Sweden (JAS-39 Grippens), France (Rafales) and Turkey F-16s) among the many participants.  This was in addition to the usual USAF, USN and USMC participants. Notable…