F-35 Christmas Presents: 45 Planes (And More?)

F-35 Christmas Presents: 45 Planes (And More?)
F-35 Christmas Presents: 45 Planes (And More?)

WASHINGTON: After years and years of busted schedules, cost overruns and technical challenges, the F-35 program is expected to end 2015 on a high note, with all production goals met and solid progress resolving the ejection seat issues that threaten lighter pilots. I understand from industry and program sources that, after getting stalled, there is a good…

Kendall Says F-35 Budget Now Vulnerable; McCain Weighs In

Kendall Says F-35 Budget Now Vulnerable; McCain Weighs In
Kendall Says F-35 Budget Now Vulnerable; McCain Weighs In

WASHINGTON: The F-35, protected fiercely by senior Pentagon, Air Force and program officials for the last few years, is no longer safe from possible budget cuts as the 2017 budget is finalized, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics said this morning. “It’s impossible in these budgets to entirely protect it,” Frank Kendall…

LaPlante: Remember Occam’s Razor

LaPlante: Remember Occam’s Razor
LaPlante: Remember Occam’s Razor

PENTAGON: My favorite line from Bill LaPlante’s final interview before he sheds the title of head of Air Force acquisition: “We used to suck, and now we don’t suck as much.” That could be the overall assessment one gives to Pentagon acquisition these days, though it might not be entirely fair. But LaPlante was only talking…

Sell US Weapons Faster Or Allies Will Buy Chinese: LaPlante

Sell US Weapons Faster Or Allies Will Buy Chinese: LaPlante
Sell US Weapons Faster Or Allies Will Buy Chinese: LaPlante

CAPITOL HILL: The head of Air Force acquisition, just back from the Dubai Air Show, said the United States must act fast to make it easier and quicker for allies to buy US weapons through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) system. If we don’t, Bill LaPLante said at an event put by on the Lexington Institute,…

F-35C & Ford Carriers – A Wrong Turn For Navy: CNAS

F-35C & Ford Carriers – A Wrong Turn For Navy: CNAS
F-35C & Ford Carriers – A Wrong Turn For Navy: CNAS

WASHINGTON: The high-cost, high-controversy centerpieces for the future Navy fleet — the Ford-class aircraft carrier and the F-35C fighter — not only take it in the wrong direction, says a report out today. They double down on a strategic mistake made 20 years ago, when the Navy shortchanged range, argues Jerry Hendrix, a retired Navy captain now…

Navy Winds Up F-35Cs Development Tests On USS Eisenhower

Navy Winds Up F-35Cs Development Tests On USS Eisenhower
Navy Winds Up F-35Cs Development Tests On USS Eisenhower

ABOARD USS EISENHOWER: After all the talk from senior Navy leaders about the life cycle costs of the Joint Strike Fighter program and the limits of stealth over the last five years, it was intriguing to hear top Navy commanders and pilots praising the performance of the F-35Cs being tested here. The pilots were using the…

Carriers Crucial In War With China – But Air Wing Is All Wrong: Hudson

Carriers Crucial In War With China – But Air Wing Is All Wrong: Hudson
Carriers Crucial In War With China – But Air Wing Is All Wrong: Hudson

UPDATE with Forbes statement WASHINGTON: At $4.7 billion over budget, Ford-class aircraft carriers have taken a beating in Congress. This morning, though, the House Seapower subcommittee chairman will roll out a report from the conservative Hudson Institute that’s a ringing defense of the carrier — but which also contains a stinging indictment of the aircraft that fly…

Russians ‘Closed The Gap’ For A2/AD: Air Force Gen. Gorenc

Russians ‘Closed The Gap’ For A2/AD: Air Force Gen. Gorenc
Russians ‘Closed The Gap’ For A2/AD: Air Force Gen. Gorenc

AFA CONFERENCE: “The alarming thing,” said the commander of US Air Forces in Europe, is that the Russians are catching up. “They’ve closed the gap.” “The advantage that we had from the air I can honestly say is shrinking,” Gen. Frank Gorenc said, “not only with respect to the aircraft that they’re producing, but the…

ALIS Biggest Challenge For F-35 IOC: Gen. Harrigian

ALIS Biggest Challenge For F-35 IOC: Gen. Harrigian
ALIS Biggest Challenge For F-35 IOC: Gen. Harrigian

AFA CONFERENCE: The biggest pole in the tent for the F-35A is ALIS, the autonomous parts management and maintenance system key to managing the Joint Strike Fighter program’s in the long term. That’s the word from Maj. Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian, director of the Air Force’s F-35 integration office. Harrigian, who oversees all F-35 issues…

F-35: Now For The (Next) Hard Part, Says Bogdan

F-35: Now For The (Next) Hard Part, Says Bogdan
F-35: Now For The (Next) Hard Part, Says Bogdan

NATIONAL PRESS CLUB: The good news for the Pentagon’s largest program is that the difficult early days are almost over. The bad news: now it’s time for the next hard part. “We are beyond slow and steady progress on the F-35 program now. We are into the phase of rapidly accelerating and growing,” said Lt.…

F-35 Stealth Testing Done In Italy; First Foreign Flight: Video

F-35 Stealth Testing Done In Italy; First Foreign Flight: Video
F-35 Stealth Testing Done In Italy; First Foreign Flight: Video

WASHINGTON: The first F-35A built in Italy for the Italian Air Force took off yesterday for what the Lockheed Martin test pilot said was highly successful first flight. “It was identical to every other airplane we produce at Fort Worth,” pilot Bill Gigliotti told reporters today in what he clearly intended as a compliment to…

Air Force Moves Aggressively On Lasers

Air Force Moves Aggressively On Lasers
Air Force Moves Aggressively On Lasers

TYSON’S CORNER: All branches of the military really want laser weapons. But they don’t all want them for the same missions. What struck me after a recent conference here was how differently the US Air Force is approaching lasers. The USAF is pursing a two-pronged approach: They want to mount lasers on both the large…

The F-35B: From ‘Probation’ To Transformation

The F-35B: From ‘Probation’ To Transformation
The F-35B: From ‘Probation’ To Transformation

When Defense Secretary Bob Gates put the F-35B on “probation” and Sen. John McCain became his powerful echo chamber, we responded on the pages of Breaking Defense that these actions were misguided. We had spent many hours with the pilots, maintainers, builders, designers, and testers of the aircraft, and came to a very different conclusion: “The F-35B…

Marines: F-35B Joint Strike Fighter Ready For War

Marines: F-35B Joint Strike Fighter Ready For War
Marines: F-35B Joint Strike Fighter Ready For War

WASHINGTON: The first variant of the most expensive conventional weapons program ever is now officially ready for combat. In one of his last acts as Marine Corps Commandant, future Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford announced today that the Marine model of the Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35B vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) version, has…