Michael Marrow covers air warfare for Breaking Defense. He holds a BA in history from the University of Virginia and started out as a freelance reporter covering local news in Fairfax County, Virginia and policing in Charlottesville, Virginia. Michael previously reported on the Air Force and Space Force for Inside Defense, where he tracked major acquisitions, policy changes and modernization efforts.
Under the “reoptimizing” effort, changes are coming across the Department of the Air Force, from new training approaches to the establishment of high-level offices.
Details of the AFRL’s Off-Board Sensing Station program remain highly classified, though the effort is expected to field an unmanned aircraft that can fly ahead of fighters and relay targeting information and other threat data back.
“Like all programs, the continuing resolution has the potential to have an impact. We have not worked through all the details if we had a sequestration scenario,” Pratt & Whitney’s Jennifer Latka said about a stalled budget on Capitol Hill. “What I know now is that our schedule is on track, that we have identified funding to continue, and that’s not to say that that situation cannot change.”
In a tour of Collins Aerospace’s facilities, executives said their new thermal management solution for the F-35 achieved a key benchmark, though the Pentagon hasn’t yet decided on a competition at all.
“Instead of seeing the Ukraine conflict and deciding ‘this is too hard,’ [China’s] intention, on the other hand, is to take note of the actions of Russia in order to effect a short, sharp, fait accompli conflict,” Adm. Samuel Paparo told lawmakers.
Chief Executive Officer Kathy Warden said that despite cost growth for the company’s Sentinel ICBM program, the company’s “near-term assumptions” of its sales and profitability are not “materially impacted.”
Air Force Lt. Gen. Rick Moore also spoke favorably of investing in “surge” capacity for things like munitions production, though he said the idea may not be popular outside the Air Force.
“Between now and the time that a vote is held on your nomination, I think you’ve got some work to do to regain the confidence of a lot of the members on this committee,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D.
As many as 120 F-35s could be “undelivered” in 2024 as a result of delays with the stealth fighter’s Technology Refresh 3 upgrade, according to Lockheed Martin Chief Financial Officer Jay Malave.
With Russian engines out of the picture, there’s a new Medium Launch Vehicle on the horizon that is US sourced with a fairing sized to launch constellations.
With Russian engines out of the picture, there’s a new Medium Launch Vehicle on the horizon that is US sourced with a fairing sized to launch constellations.
