Kill Army Helo Upgrades & Build Super Chopper: Bell V-280 Exec

Kill Army Helo Upgrades & Build Super Chopper: Bell V-280 Exec
Kill Army Helo Upgrades & Build Super Chopper: Bell V-280 Exec

AMARILLO, TEX.: Bell Helicopter is so confident in their new V-280 tilt-rotor prototype that they want the Pentagon to accelerate the Future Vertical Lift program – which they think the V-280 will win – by “five to eight years.” [Click here for our head-to-head comparison of the V-280 and its rival, the Sikorsky-Boeing SB>1] That…

Navy Budget Share Grows, Boosted By Pacific Strategy Shift

PENTAGON: The Navy would get the largest budget share among the three military services in the 2014 budget submitted Wednesday, but would still see a drop in total funding from what Congress provided for this year in the final version of the continuing resolution. The $155.8 billion requested for the Navy Department in the president’s…

Hungary Is Hungry for Hueys; Defense Minister Hopes For ‘A Donation’ EXCLUSIVE

UPDATED: Friday Sept. 14, 6:52 p.m.. WASHINGTON: Hungary’s defense minister, Csaba Hende, went to see Defense Secretary Leon Panetta at the Pentagon today and won praise for his tiny Central European nation’s contributions in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the world. A spokesman, though, said Hende didn’t raise another issue he discussed in an exclusive interview…

Pentagon Struggles To Keep Ships Sailing, Planes Flying As Budget Cuts Loom

The U.S. military faces a readiness crisis. A recent Congressional hearing generated headlines about the Navy’s surface fleet falling into disrepair. But that was news four years ago. Across all the services, long-standing readiness problems are worsening; breakdowns are happening more frequently. Several years ago, an Air Force F-15C literally broke in half during flight.…