Kendall: Budget Gimmicks Won’t Fix Nuclear Deterrent

Kendall: Budget Gimmicks Won’t Fix Nuclear Deterrent
Kendall: Budget Gimmicks Won’t Fix Nuclear Deterrent

NATIONAL HARBOR: Talk about a radioactive issue. Top officials in Air Force, Navy, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense keep talking about how there is no higher priority than the nation’s nuclear deterrent. It’s so crucial, they all say, that someone else should pay for it. “No capability we maintain is more important.…

Will SpaceX Be Ready For Launch Dec. 1st?

Will SpaceX Be Ready For Launch Dec. 1st?
Will SpaceX Be Ready For Launch Dec. 1st?

NATIONAL HARBOR: When will the Air Force certify SpaceX as ready to launch military satellites — if they certify the upstart startup at all? The new chief of Air Force Space Command said this morning that “hopefully” he could certify SpaceX by December 1st. Just hours later, though, the Secretary of the Air Force, Deborah…

B-2 Pilot’s Lessons For LRSB, America’s New Bomber

B-2 Pilot’s Lessons For LRSB, America’s New Bomber
B-2 Pilot’s Lessons For LRSB, America’s New Bomber

The Air Force very quietly released a Request for Proposal (RFP) this summer for the new Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B). With a purported fly away cost of $550 million per aircraft — but with estimates up to $810 million — the LRS-B will be one of the largest acquisition programs in history with broad…

JSF & The Path of DOOM

JSF & The Path of DOOM
JSF & The Path of DOOM

As commanders and contractors gather for the Air Force Association’s massive annual conference, our favorite iconoclastic officer, the White House-endorsed Lt. Col. Dan Ward, offers this merciless dissection of the Pentagon’s biggest program and how to avoid its mistakes. — the Editors In February of 2014, Lt. Gen. Charles Davis, the Air Force’s top uniformed acquisition official,…

F-35 Engine Fix On Track; JPO Changing Mishap Notification

F-35 Engine Fix On Track; JPO Changing Mishap Notification
F-35 Engine Fix On Track; JPO Changing Mishap Notification

NATIONAL HARBOR: When the F-35A exploded June 23 on the runway, it took about 10 days before the Pentagon had worked out how to communicate to the public, to the Navy, Marines and Air Force and to its international partners what had happened, was happening and would happen. Today, Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan said that his…

Air Force IT Strategy Boosts Cyber, Neglects Jamming

Air Force IT Strategy Boosts Cyber, Neglects Jamming
Air Force IT Strategy Boosts Cyber, Neglects Jamming

NATIONAL HARBOR: The good news is the Air Force has almost finished a new strategy to protect its high-tech gear from hackers. The bad news? The problem is huge, the processes are nascent, and the intimately interrelated issue of electronic warfare is, at the moment, not part of the discussion. Sure, cybersecurity is the scary,…

Must-Read Tale Of Predator’s Tortuous Ride To Fame

Must-Read Tale Of Predator’s Tortuous Ride To Fame
Must-Read Tale Of Predator’s Tortuous Ride To Fame

Rick Whittle’s superb book on the creation and uses of the Predator drone needs to be read by the Pentagon’s head of acquisition, Frank Kendall, and everyone else who decides what weapons America buys, including the professional staff on Capitol Hill who tell their congressional bosses what’s real and why. Whittle, who seems to be making a habit out…

It’s Not Airpower Vs. Boots On Ground Any More

It’s Not Airpower Vs. Boots On Ground Any More
It’s Not Airpower Vs. Boots On Ground Any More

As the Air Force Association girds for its annual conference, which starts Monday here in Washington, I was struck by several comments from several experts that the traditional dichotomy between air power and ground forces — often the focus of internecine budget battles between the Army and Air Force — isn’t that relevant any more. Aircraft…

Why I Wrote The Book About Predator

Why I Wrote The Book About Predator
Why I Wrote The Book About Predator

Rick Whittle wrote the book on the V-22, which he covered for several thousand years while a Washington reporter for the Dallas Morning News. Now he’s written the book on the Predator (on sale Monday), the drone (no RPAs on this site) and he’s obtained a great deal of operational information about Predator and the battle against Al…