China has long relied on Russian imports to power its jet aircraft. Now a Chinese bid for a Ukrainian engine maker could change that – with dire results for US air superiority.
By Reuben JohnsonMILSATCOM for the most critical no-fail missions
With multiple nuclear-capable threats and space itself being a contested domain, assured and protected MILSATCOM are more critical than ever before.
The Air Force hopes replacing the engines will keep the venerable B-52 in the air through 2050 — just two years shy of a century.
By Theresa Hitchens
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“These are engines that would fit on your tabletop,” said Kratos exec Stacey Rock. “We don’t want hundreds of ‘em, we want thousands [of drones] to overwhelm the threat.”
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
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
CORRECTED: Inserted Photo Of Minuteman III; Removed Photo Of Titan WASHINGTON: Gen. Robin Rand, the Air Force bomber and missile boss, really wants new jet engines for his aging B-52s. The service has invited interested companies to a two-day information session in December and Boeing and Rolls-Royce are already publicly campaigning for the contract. But,…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Donald Trump has bemoaned the “over budget, behind schedule” F-35 program. He opened his first press conference as president-elect with a vow to do “big things” to bring down the aircraft’s cost and improve performance. That will take more than jaw-boning. Applying heat to Lockheed will reduce costs to a degree, but it would take another…
By John Venable
PARIS AIR SHOW: Pratt & Whitney has refused to disclose the price of its F135 engines for the F-35 for quite a while, even while Lockheed Martin boasted it would bring down the price of the Joint Strike Fighter to $80 million a copy — including engine. Now we know why. At a Monday briefing…
By Colin Clark
The Weekly Break Out web news show
Coming in 2025! The Washington Monument is an iconic part of Washington. There’s something else monumental coming to defense in DC in 2025.
PRATT & WHITNEY ENGINE PLANT, MIDDLETOWN, CONN.: [updated 9:05 am Wednesday with comment from Pratt & Whitney President David Hess] This factory builds jet engines for high-performance fighters — an engine a week for the F-35 alone — but the armed forces might want to take a look at an innovation on Pratt & Whitney’s…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
