Across 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 Marrow“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 MarrowCOVID-19 stalled defense programs, so money moves from last year to this, giving Singapore defense spending a single year bump of over 12 percent.
By Colin ClarkThe service wants to produce up to 500 rounds per year and field an early version in fiscal year 2027.
By Justin KatzHungary was the third country, behind Sweden and Czech Republic to operate the Gripen C/D planes, initially acquired under a lease agreement for 12 single seaters (Gripen C) and a pair of two seaters (Gripen D).
By Tim Martin“The procurement of a second type of guided missile [PAC-3] for the Patriot system expands the capabilities of longer-range ground-based air defense and increases the endurance of the Swiss Army” said Switzerland’s federal department of defense, civil protection and sport in a translated statement.
By Tim Martin“Let’s say enemy strike plans are based around them going in and taking out a whole air wing at an airfield within a morning. Well that is not going to happen if they [friendly aircraft] are dispersed around the country and moving from A to B to C to D the whole time,” said Gary Waterfall, a former UK Royal Air Force air vice-marshal.
By Tim Martin and Bartosz Głowacki“They worked basically until the end of their duty day, got up early the next morning to finish it off, ran the engine and had it ready to go within about 12 hours of the C-130 touching down.”
By Colin ClarkSeparately, the US cleared a potential $15 billion sale to Poland for Patriot air defense systems and related equipment.
By Tim MartinGen. (ret) Jeff “Cobra” Harrigian, recently retired commander of US Air Forces Europe and Africa, describes the European battlespace and what’s on the minds of the air chiefs as Ukraine defends itself.
By Breaking DefenseThe Scandinavian nation divested of submarines in 2004 but lawmakers are actively considering whether to acquire them again.
By Tim MartinAir Force’s Stand-in Attack Weapon (SiAW) program has funded prototyping work with three short-term contracts first issued last year to Lockheed Martin, L3Harris and Northrop Grumman.
By Michael MarrowBuilding off trends established by the fiscal 2023 budget, the service is asking for even more retirements in FY24 while seeking to launch new efforts like a program to field autonomous wingmen. “We’ve built a budget that we think has a reasonable balance between current-, midterm- and longer-term investments, if you will, or capabilities,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said.
By Michael Marrow
In this op-ed, Timothy Walton and Mark Gunzinger discuss solutions to extend the reach of the US Air Force for a China scenario.
By Timothy A. Walton and Mark Gunzinger