NATO Airlift Management Program Expands C-17 Training Capability with Boeing Services Contract

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  December 10, 2018 | International, Aerospace

  Why the Navy will deactivate an F-35 Squadron next year

  By: Mark D. Faram The Navy will deactivate the Grim Reapers of Strike Fighter Squadron 101, consolidating all Joint Strike Fighter operations and training at California's Naval Air Station Lemoore, officials confirmed on Friday. The squadron has been based at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. It was reactivated in 2012 as the Navy's initial F-35C fleet replacement squadron. At the time, the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force Joint Strike Fighter replacement squadrons were located there as well. The move of the Grim Reapers' 15 aircraft is slated to be effective on July 1, according to OPNAV notice 5400. “The Navy is moving forward with the deactivation of VFA-101 at Eglin AFB next year, and the re-alignment of F-35C assets into Strike Fighter Squadrons to support VX-9 Detachment Edwards AFB, Air Warfare Development Command (NAWDC) at NAS Fallon and maintain Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) production at VFA-125, while transitioning Navy and Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet squadrons to the F-35C Lightning II,” wrote Lt. Travis Callaghan, a Naval Air Forces spokesman, in an email to Navy Times. The shift to California should see the Grim Reapers' 29 officers and 239 enlisted personnel replace their patches with those of the “Rough Raiders” of Strike Fighter Squadron 125, Lemoore's F-35C replacement squadron. “This will co-locate the fleet replenishment squadron production of pilots directly into the operational squadrons scheduled for transition to F-35C,” according to a note in the directive ordering the move. The extra aircraft, pilots and maintainers at Lemoore are expected to help the Pentagon meet its testing and evaluation requirements for the the Navy's first operational fleet F-35C squadron, VFA-147, That major milestone for the Navy's JSF program is still slated to happen in 2019. The maiden overseas deployment of VFA-147 is anticipated in 2021 while embarked on the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson. Deactivating VFA-101 wasn't the Navy's original plan. Officials wanted to move the squadron to Lemoore in early 2017. Then the Navy decided to keep VFA-101 at Eglin and stood up a second training squadron, VFA-125, at Lemoore. At the time, officials told Navy Times there was “no plan in the foreseeable future for VFA-101 to be stood down” because “the requirement is for two FRS while we are transitioning squadrons.” The Grim Reapers could be resurrected if the Navy chooses to have an F-35 replacement squadron on both coasts. The OPNAV note requires the Navy to “maintain VFA 101 squadron lineage (name, UIC, insignia, call sign, etc.) for future reactivation.” But bringing the Grim Reapers back to life likely won't happen for at least a decade. That's because the Navy has yet to start the process of naming a home base for its East Coast F-35Cs. It requires extensive environmental impact studies before senior leaders make the final decision on where the squadrons will go. And that, Navy officials say, isn't expected to start until the mid-2020′s at the earliest. https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2018/12/07/why-the-navy-will-deactivate-an-f-35-squadron-next-year/

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  May 29, 2020 | International, Aerospace

  Italy defense minister commits to F-35 after calls to suspend program

  By: Tom Kington ROME – Italy's defense minister has thrown his weight behind the F-35 program to counter demands from within his coalition government to suspend purchases of the aircraft to help Italy's coronavirus-stricken economy. Lorenzo Guerini said he “confirmed that the program would continue,” after calls from Italy's Five Star party to halt F-35 purchases for a year as Italy seeks cash to help rebound from the virus, which has killed 33,000 in Italy. In an interview with Italian publication Formiche, Guerini said defense spending was often slashed during economic crises, but claimed cuts to Italy's planned 90-aircraft buy would hurt high-tech jobs and damage an industrial sector which “offers very significant economic returns to our nation.” Italy has currently taken delivery of 15 F-35 aircraft including 12 F-35A's and three F-35B's. Final assembly of the aircraft occurs at Italy's own facility at Cameri Air Base in the north of the country, which is due to become a maintenance hub for the aircraft. Guerini hails from the center-left Democratic Party, which is a minority partner with the Five Star party in a coalition government formed last year. Previously, Five Star had governed alongside the anti-migrant League party. Five Star has had a turbulent relationship with the F-35 program. Prior to first entering government in 2018 it vowed to scrap the program altogether, before giving ambiguous signals about the aircraft once it was in power. Italy's coronavirus outbreak, which started in late February and prompted a strict, nationwide shut-down, has only now eased, with most restrictions on movement dropped on May 18. But after two months of lockdown the economy is in tatters, from manufacturing to services to tourism, which accounts for 13 percent of GDP. The government has been slow off the mark to pay furlough wages and economists see GDP shrinking by up to ten percent this year. In late March, 50 Five Star members of parliament signed a motion backing a suspension of ongoing F-35 purchases for one year to free cash for health spending. “We would also consider renegotiating and resizing this program,” one Five Star member in the group said at the time. In his interview, Guerini backed F-35 but also supported Italy's historical alliance with the United States and NATO, which was thrown into doubt by an April poll asking Italians which countries they considered “Friends”. Some 52 percent indicated China, followed by Russia on 32 percent and the United States on 17 percent. Compared to a similar survey carried out in 2019, China leaped 42 percent, Russia by 17 percent, while the U.S. dropped 12 percent. Asked which country Italy should ally with in the future, 36 percent said China while only 30 percent said the United States. The survey followed very visible visits by Chinese and Russian doctors to Italy to help during the virus outbreak. Last year, Italy announced plans to sign up to China's controversial Belt and Road global trade routes plan, incurring criticism from U.S. diplomats, who warned the program was designed to help China more than its partners. https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2020/05/28/italy-defense-minister-commits-to-f-35-after-calls-to-suspend-program/

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  May 28, 2021 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR, Security

  Contracts for May 27, 2021

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