DoD uses FAR Part 12 acquisitions to save hundreds of millions of dollars in “of a type” systems like civil landing systems with applicability to military aircraft.
By Breaking DefenseThe “Milestone C” decision is a crucial moment signifying the department’s confidence in the performance of the F-35 and maturity of Lockheed Martin’s production system, though the plane has been in service for years.
By Valerie Insinna“It’s just about the overall budget of the Air Force and what we’re able to afford and what we’re not able to afford,” explained Air Force acquisition chief Andrew Hunter of the decision to cut the birds.
By Michael MarrowThe B61-13, announced in October, seeks to create a higher-yield nuclear bomb that can be used to penetrate hardened enemy locations.
By Aaron Mehta“Now that we understand that 80 kilowatts is a must-have, it was the mission of: how do we get there, with the lowest impact to the overall airframe?” Honeywell Aerospace’s Matt Milas told Breaking Defense in an exclusive interview.
By Michael Marrow“There was a debate which … about so-called ‘reveal, conceal’ [and] how much detail we want to put out,” said Under Secretary of Defense Comptroller Mike McCord. “We’re sort of leaning on the side of not disclosing the details…”
By Ashley RoqueAcross the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, the Pentagon will purchase 21 fewer fighter jets than originally expected for the 2025 fiscal year, dropping a planned buy of 107 to 86.
By Michael MarrowBreaking Defense has you covered for all the news of the Pentagon’s fiscal 2025 budget rollout, and this handy landing page of our stories will get you where you need to go.
By Aaron Mehta“We’re very, very fixated on being competitive with the pacing challenge [of China],” said Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall. “I think the budget that we’ve submitted moves us forward — not quite as fast as we would like to, but it moves us forward in the right direction while maintaining current capabilities that are essential to the nation.”
By Michael Marrow“We kind of depend on having [that] ‘24 bill finish and finish in a way that looks a lot like what we asked for. Otherwise, we’re going to have to go back to the drawing board on a couple of fronts,” said a senior defense official.
By Ashley RoqueThe designation marks the first time that a stealth fighter can carry a nuclear weapon, in this case the B61-12 thermonuclear gravity bomb.
By Michael MarrowPentagon officials say they have “high confidence” that they can return the V-22 Ospreys to flight safely, but are tight lipped on what they learned about the cause of a crash in Japan that killed eight airmen.
By Justin Katz and Michael MarrowDespite disagreements with Boeing on pricing for the E-7A Wedgetail, Air Force acquisition chief Andrew Hunter said officials still see the radar plane “as a capability that makes sense and that we need to field in the near term.”
By Michael MarrowWhen assessing the state of the art of unmanned aerial systems, it’s critical to be very clear about what various aircraft can and can’t do – and could never do.
By GENERAL ATOMICS AERONAUTICAL SYSTEMS, INC.