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.
The Minuteman III replacement’s costs ballooned by 37 percent and will take about two years longer than expected as officials reportedly discover hidden complications of silo construction.
Though lawmakers avoided a partial government shutdown set to start Saturday, the extension of the current continuing resolution is sure to frustrate agencies like the Pentagon whose spending is locked at fiscal year 2023 levels.
Breaking Defense toured Boeing’s Seattle-area facilities where the KC-46A is built, and company officials explained fixes in the works for six critical issues, from new cameras to better seals on fuel lines.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was transported by ambulance to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on the evening of Jan. 1 due to “severe pain” but currently has a “good” prognosis, the Pentagon’s top spokesman said today.
DARPA and Aurora Flight Sciences’ X-65 prototype aims to pioneer a new type of aircraft that maneuvers using pressurized air instead of physical flight control surfaces.
As Breaking Defense toured Boeing’s Seattle area facilities where the E-7 radar plane will take shape, company officials talked about getting the bird in the air — and their vision for what it can do.
From more sophisticated systems like the Air Force’s collaborative combat aircraft to cheap kamikaze weapons, the drone had its heyday in 2023 — and promises, coupled with AI, to be a much bigger part of future warfighting.
Boeing, General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and startup Anduril are in play to field the Air Force’s collaborative combat aircraft, Breaking Defense has learned.
Kristyn Jones, who is performing the duties of the under secretary of the Air Force, warned that modernization initiatives aimed at countering China would also be at risk if a budget impasse in Congress stretches on.
The joint effort to get a sixth-gen stealth fighter in the air by 2035 is to be headquartered in the UK, while a Japanese official will be the first program leader.
