All articles by Gareth Evans
Gareth Evans
Inside NATO’s Joint Air Power Strategy
On 15 February, NATO Defence Ministers formally approved a joint air power strategy, marking the latest development in work that began during the 2014 Wales Summit, to give air defence the “longer-term consideration” then called for by the assembled national leaders. So what does it contain?
How hypersonic flight could transform air combat
At Mach 5, you can circle the globe in less than seven hours. The appeal of that to the aerospace industry is obvious and promises huge potential benefits, spawning new generations of weapons and platforms for the air forces of the future.
Carpooling the P8A Poseidon – a retro approach to maritime security?
There is perhaps more than a touch of déjà vu about the recent signing of an agreement between the US, the UK and Norway to establish “a trilateral partnership with P-8A aircraft to address the changing security environment in the North Atlantic.” It signals a return to the kind of co-ordinated approach to anti-submarine warfare (ASW) that has not been seen since the days of the old Soviet Union, when maritime surveillance aircraft flew from Norway, Scotland and the US base at Keflavik to guard the Greenland-Iceland-UK (G-I-UK) gap.
Intercepting intercontinental missiles
Intercepting an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in flight has often been described as hitting a bullet with a bullet, and it makes for a pretty accurate analogy. Dr Gareth Evans asks whether it can be done.
F-35 Lightning: up and away
April’s arrival of F-35 Lightning IIs at RAF Lakenheath at the start of their first ever deployment outside of the US marked a significant milestone for an aircraft which has been making the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
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Air-to-Air Refuelling: why tomorrow’s tankers will need to pack their own punch
Air-to-air refuelling (AAR) stands as one of the key enabling technologies of modern air supremacy. From projecting military power to delivering humanitarian aid, the ability of advanced air forces to operate far beyond their national boundaries provides an unparalleled force enhancer.
XS-1 Phase B: DARPA’s new space plane looks skyward
DARPA has awarded contracts to Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Masten Space Systems to continue developing concepts for US military’s XS-1 experimental space plane. How could the new design make spaceflight commonplace, and what potential military benefits would it provide?
JPADS: circumventing GPS for next-gen precision airdrops
Global positioning system (GPS) tech has been a vital enabler of accurate military airdrops for 25 years, but it has its limitations. With the development of the Joint Precision Airdrop System (JPADS), the US is looking to improve the safety and accuracy of military resupply missions even in regions where GPS is denied or inaccessible.
Speed and efficiency: are adaptive jet engines the way forward?
Thrust and fuel efficiency have always seemed destined to remain mutually exclusive – the higher the one, the lower the other – inevitably forcing jet engine designers to make calculated trade-offs between the two.
Extreme weather testing military aircraft: inside the world’s largest climatic laboratory
Military aircraft have to operate in some of the hottest, coldest, wettest and dustiest environments in the world. We take a look inside McKinley Climatic Laboratory, the world’s largest climatic testing facility, and the tools and technologies it uses to simulate just about any weather conditions on the planet to test the performance of US Air Force aircraft before they are deployed.