F-35C Readiness Rises, Navy Fighter Shortfall Fades
While the Air Force bet the farm on F-35, the Navy put its airpower eggs in multiple baskets, from legacy fighters to new drones.
Air Force Tries To Fix F-35’s ALIS — From A Big, Broken Box To the Cloud
How bad is the F-35's computerized maintenance system, ALIS? So bad the plane may be better off without it.
Breaking Defense announces Breaking Defense Europe, a new, distinct, European edition
Breaking Defense Europe will launch May 4 with Tim Martin and Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo as co-editors.
F-35 Problems: Late IOTE, F-35A Gun Inaccurate, F-35B Tires, Threat Data, Cyber…
WASHINGTON: Perhaps the most damning thing a director of Operational Test and Evaluation can say about a weapon is that it is not “operationally suitable.” Here’s what the new DOTE, Robert Behler, says about the F-35 Joint Strike fighter in his office’s latest annual report: While the majority of the testing done occurred before Behler […]
ALIS Glitch Grounds Marine F-35Bs
WASHINGTON: A glitchy software upgrade to the ALIS ground support system has grounded the Marine Corps F-35B squadron based in Yuma, Arizona, the F-35 Joint Program Office announced. Details are sparse, but a Marine Corps statement (reproduced in full below) said the unspecified “anomalies” only affected maintenance codes and only in the Yuma squadron, VMFA-211. […]
Allies And 21st Century Weapons: The F-35 Comes To Europe
A key dynamic in the shift from COIN-centric land wars to a twenty-first century combat force is what the US and its closest allies will learn from each other thanks to the core weapons systems they are buying at the same time. Hidden in plain view is the emergence of a significant driver of change –- flying the same […]
Air Combat Commander Bullish On F-35 IOC
RIAT: No roadblocks stand in the way of approving Initial Operating Capability (IOC) for the Air Force’s F-35A, Gen. Hawk Carlisle said here today. The head of Air Combat Command — who is the man charged with ensuring Lockheed Martin meets all the benchmarks for IOC — made clear nothing would happen until Air Force […]
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Why enterprise IT modernization matters now – and how to “delight by design”
Do more with less: streamline workflows, reduce duplication, invest upfront to save long-term.
F-35As And F-35Bs Cross Atlantic; ALIS Working ‘As Advertised’
UPDATED: With F-35A Pilot And Mechanic Interviews CORRECTED: Caption Misidentified MSgt De Leon As Former Deputy Defense Secretary Rudy… The Air Force pilots who flew the F-35A models across the Atlantic Thursday for seven hours and 45 minutes reported a nearly flawless ride in a comfortable cockpit that included seven airborne refuelings. But the most […]
HASC AirLand Asks: Should We Restart The F-22???
WASHINGTON: It’s a bit hard to believe, but the House Armed Services Air and Land Forces subcommittee wants the Pentagon to consider the possibility of restarting the F-22 production line. “In light of growing threats to U.S. air superiority as a result of adversaries closing the technology gap and increasing demand from allies and partners […]
Bogdan Predicts F-35s For Less Than $80M, Engines Included!
ARLINGTON, VA: Three years ago, Lockheed Martin made the bold boast that F-35s would cost less than $85 million a copy by 2019, less than any existing fourth-generation fighter. Skeptics howled. Boeing scoffed (eager to sell their ostensibly cheaper F-18 and keep its production line open). Most of us were impressed at then-Lockheed Martin program manager […]
Operational Testers Flag F-35 Software Issues
WASHINGTON: The Pentagon’s director of Operational Test and Evaluation has raised serious concerns about the F-35 program’s ability to safely and effectively build and test the enormous amount of software used by both the F-35 aircraft and the maintenance and logistics system known as ALIS to keep the planes flying. In a previously unreported Dec. […]
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America must adopt a Sixth Domain of warfare doctrine
The Sixth Domain is not defined by geography. It’s a new kind of conflict in which autonomy and networked systems allow thousand-dollar consumer electronics to destroy multi-million-dollar conventional weapons systems.
Noise Biggest Worry For F-35B On USS Wasp; Marines Fly Through Testing
ABOARD USS WASP: When you start getting bored during an operational test after watching the seventh or eighth F-35B float down the carrier deck and slip up into the air, you know the Marines and Navy are doing something right — or being very lucky. The six pilots have put their planes into the air close to […]
‘I Am Not A Salesman For F-35:’ Lt. Gen. Bogdan, F-35 PEO; 2B Software Delayed
Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, head of the F-35 program, shut up a room full of reporters yesterday. That’s right. None of us said a word for about 15 minutes yesterday while Bogdan told us he wanted to see us get our facts right about the F-35 program. But what really got our attention was his […]
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 […]
GAO Predicts F-35 Software Troubles May Drive Annual Costs Up To $15 Billion
WASHINGTON: The Government Accountability Office, Congress’ watchdog, says the Pentagon will have to sharply increase annual funding for the Joint Strike Fighter should projected software delays persist. Here’s the rub in this latest GAO report. It’s based on the director of Operational Test and Evaluations finding that the program won’t be able to make up […]