“We’ve committed to 48, we’ll buy 48” F-35s, UK Minister for the Armed Forces, James Heappey, said. The original plan was to buy 138 fifth-generation fighters, but British officials in recent months have declined to say that number is still the target.
By Paul McLearyNew Army mounted system won’t play favorites when it comes to C5ISR, EW and A-PNT
The CMOSS Mounted Form Factor will facilitate tech insertion for new capabilities while co-existing with the Mounted Family of Computer Systems.
The new plan will focus on four areas, “underwater, our carrier programs, our Marines — so working with the US Marine Corps and their drive for distributed warfare — and linking that with what we want to do with our Royal Marines, and the future commando force,” First Sea Lord Adm. Tony Radakin says.
By Paul McLeary
The long road the F-35 took to finally being ready to deploy has forced the Navy’s new $13 billion carrier class to leave the plane behind — for now at least.
By Paul McLeary
As the Navy scrambles to get enough parts and people to move carriers back out to sea, it’s facing a crowded waterfront at Norfolk.
By Paul McLeary
“We’re not talking about interoperability anymore, we’re talking about proper integration to a level we’ve never seen,” Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Jerry Kyd told me on the deck of the UK’s new carrier.
By Paul McLeary
WASHINGTON: The UK is ready to start deploying the first batch of its new F-35 fighter overseas, the country’s top defense official said Thursday, while introducing a slew of new cruise and attack missiles for its Typhoon jets. The announcement of Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for nine F-35Bs comes weeks after the Royal Navy…
By Paul McLeary
WASHINGTON The F-35 program office announced today the aircraft had finally reached its initial operational test & evaluation phase, which is expected to wrap up next September. That’s three months behind previous projections for mid-summer — the result of the program’s first crash (fortunately non-fatal) and a subsequent grounding — and 16 months behind the…
By Paul McLeary
Why cloud modernization is critical to multi-domain operations
JADC2 is a forcing function, driving digital transformation of network infrastructure.
Two years have passed since Le Bourget hosted the last Euronaval show, two years during which the maritime world has become increasingly multipolar. For example, just in the submarine business, more than 40 countries are nowadays involved. In the meantime, Russia added 28 new ships to its fleet in 2018 alone, while China, with a…
By Murielle Delaporte
UPDATED: Adds Rep. Turner Pledge To Hold HASC Hearings WASHINGTON: It may not last long, but the entire F-35 fleet — all versions from all countries — was just grounded “while the enterprise conducts a fleet-wide inspection of a fuel tube within the engine on all F-35 aircraft.” The British — clearly hungry to keep…
By Colin Clark and Paul McLeary
“We’re not going to pretend it’s easy,” Rear Adm. Keith Blount, assistant chief of the Naval Staff told reporters. “But this isn’t unfathomably difficult for us. We are enjoying going back into the big time, and this is one of those big steps on that ladder. It’s hugely exciting and should be reassuring to those back home and to those on this side of the Atlantic.”
By Paul McLeary
NAVAL STATION NORFOLK: The largest ship in British naval history, the carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, can move four F-35Bs on her two huge elevators up to her decks in just a few minutes, allowing the ship to put its most potent strike assets into the air in minutes. The entire ship is laced with fiber-optic…
By Colin Clark
The future of the RAF is on display at the Farnborough Air Show. With the F-35, the RAF is part of the multi-domain airpower transformation and will work closely with European allies, notably in reshaping Northern Tier Defense. With the Typhoon, the RAF is seeking a modernized aircraft reworked to compliment the F-35 but with a yet undetermined relationship with its European partners. And the A330MRTT and A400M aircraft, as well as MBDA missiles, are part of a broader context of resolving Brexit.
By Robbin Laird
PARIS AIR SHOW: First it was cyber. Now I find myself covering ships at an air show. Ok. They are aircraft carriers so I guess we can give the Queen Elizabeth carriers a pass. The big news here? The first of the two ships should sail for the first time later this month, or maybe next…
By Colin Clark
For years, we’ve heard about how vulnerable aircraft carriers are to enemy fire. They’re big. They’re not that fast — compared to a missile. But a big airbase isn’t exactly mobile. While it can be hardened, its location is well known. So, this year the Pentagon requested $361 million for deployable airbase systems as part…
By Robbin Laird