Israel Keeps Eyes On F-35Bs; Lockheed-Boeing Battle It Out For Fighters, Choppers

Israel Keeps Eyes On F-35Bs; Lockheed-Boeing Battle It Out For Fighters, Choppers
Israel Keeps Eyes On F-35Bs; Lockheed-Boeing Battle It Out For Fighters, Choppers

TEL AVIV: Until last week there was a shadow war, fought behind closed doors, mainly in the highly guarded complex of the Israeli Defense Ministry and the Israeli Air Force headquarters in Tel Aviv. And in some newspapers. But now the war has gone public and the big guns could be heard all over Israel’s…

When It Rains, It Pours F-35s: Pratt Wins $1.5B For Lot 10 Engines Plus…

When It Rains, It Pours F-35s: Pratt Wins $1.5B For Lot 10 Engines Plus…
When It Rains, It Pours F-35s: Pratt Wins $1.5B For Lot 10 Engines Plus…

RIAT: Who knows if it’s coincidence or not, but the Pentagon today announced that after a seemingly endless negotiation for the tenth Low Rate Initial Production lot, Pratt and Whitney was awarded $1.5 billion for 99 F135 engines, as well as backups and spare parts.  Unit prices for the conventional takeoff and landing systems came down by 2.6 percent.…

F-35s, V-22s, And Samsung Tablets: Junior Marines Pioneer New Tech, Tactics

F-35s, V-22s, And Samsung Tablets: Junior Marines Pioneer New Tech, Tactics
F-35s, V-22s, And Samsung Tablets: Junior Marines Pioneer New Tech, Tactics

For the valedictory wargame of the Marine Corps’s Infantry Officer Course, young second lieutenants launched an airborne raid on San Clemente Island off the California coast to try out new tactics and techniques with V-22s and F-35s. Their mission: fly in on V-22 Ospreys, wipe out simulated missile launch sites so US warships could move…

Will Europe Ever Build Its Own Fifth Generation Fighter?

Will Europe Ever Build Its Own Fifth Generation Fighter?
Will Europe Ever Build Its Own Fifth Generation Fighter?

This year’s Paris Air Show promises to be one of the most lackluster for the defense sector in at least a decade. America is sending virtually no military aircraft to fly the all-important afternoon displays: no F-22s, no F-35s, no C-17s, no C-130s. American companies have scaled back their executives’ participation, not because it saves any…

Marine’s F-35B Executes Its First Vertical Takeoff; Straight Up Cool But…

Marine’s F-35B Executes Its First Vertical Takeoff; Straight Up Cool But…
Marine’s F-35B Executes Its First Vertical Takeoff; Straight Up Cool But…

Watch the F-35B, the Marines’ fighter of choice, execute a very cool maneuver in this video, taking off straight up into the sky. While very cool, this is not something the Joint Strike Fighter is actually expected to do very often. For one thing, it requires enormous amounts of fuel. Instead, the B model is…