Exclusive: Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker, USN, the commander of US Naval Air Forces, on defending aircraft carriers from future threats, importance of the new Ford-class carriers, improving readiness and recent V-22 trials in part two of a two-part interview.

Capt. James Christie, USN, the commanding officer of US Navy Strike Fighter Squadron 101 (VFA-101 Grim Reapers) that is the service’s first F-35C Lightning II fighter unit, discusses preparations to carrier qualify operational pilots on the new stealth jet aboard USS George Washington.

Capt. Mark Weisgerber, USN, the vice commander of the US Air Force’s 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin AFB, Fla., discusses how the Navy and Air Force are working together to bring the F-35 Lightning II fighter into service.

Exclusive: Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker, USN, the commander of US Naval Air Forces, discusses the importance of the F-35C Lightning II fighter, the need for more F/A-18E/F fighters, unmanned aircraft and future naval aircraft in part one of a two-part interview.

Mike Walker, program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Information Innovation Office who oversaw the recent Cyber Grand Challenge, discusses the 10-hour competition in Las Vegas to develop and demonstrate automatic network defenses.

Richard Safran, a former top Northrop Grumman stealth and counterstealth engineer who is now a director and partner at the Buckingham Research Group, debunks claims that US stealth technologies in aircraft like the F-35 Lightning II fighter are overrated.

Beau Woods, the deputy director of the Cyber Statecraft Initiative at the Atlantic Council think tank, and Jay Healey of Columbia University, discuss how the US government is working to harness cyber talent at major hacker conferences like DEF CON, Black Hat and others; amateur cyber skills; responding to Russia’s cyber attacks; and protecting the US voting system from cyber tampering.

Greg Poling, the director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, discusses evidence that China has built hardened aircraft shelters on the artificial islands it has constructed in the South China Sea, violating its pledge not to militarize the disputed territories.

With carrier qualifications for operational F-35C Lightning II fighter pilots completed aboard USS George Washington, Rear Adm. Roy “Trigger” Kelley, USN, the commander of Carrier Strike Group 12 who will soon become the chief of the Navy’s F-35C Fleet Integration Office, discusses next steps to bringing the naval variant of the Joint Strike Fighter into service