The new C-40s would supplement executive airlift missions for “Top Five” users — the vice president, first spouse, defense secretary, Joint Chiefs chairman and secretary of state — who rely on a fleet of C-32 aircraft that can only support 59 percent of Top Five travel requests, the Air Force told Breaking Defense.
By Michael Marrow and Valerie InsinnaAdvances in radar are key to countering the modern drone warfare and missile threat
Drones, high-speed cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles attacking together from 360° creates complexity only certain radars can handle.
“[W]hat we have done is assured the Air Force that everything we produce under the contract becomes their data,” said Brady Hauboldt, SNC’s vice president of aviation strategic plans and programs.
By Michael Marrow
The win is a major victory for the firm in a competition that saw the surprise elimination of aerospace giant Boeing.
By Michael Marrow Boeing and the Air Force reportedly could not agree on the E-4B replacement’s contract terms and data rights.
By Michael Marrow The House subcommittee’s markup of the fiscal 2023 defense policy bill also calls upon GAO to review the effectiveness of the NC3 Enterprise Center run by STRATCOM.
By Theresa Hitchens
“If you try to life-extend a weapon system that was built before the invention of the Internet, and then turn around and ask me why it’s not cyber-secure — I don’t know how,” Adm. Charles Richard told SASC today.
By Theresa Hitchens NC3 is “the last line of communication capabilities and associated equipment that we know will always be there during our worst day,” explains Air Force Lt. Gen. James Dawkins, deputy CSAF for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration.
By Theresa Hitchens
MILSATCOM for the most critical no-fail missions
With multiple nuclear-capable threats and space itself being a contested domain, assured and protected MILSATCOM are more critical than ever before.
Of 46 types of aircraft surveyed – from the new F-35 to the aging JSTARS – not one met the Pentagon’s goal of being 80 percent “mission capable.” Most of them, in fact, keep getting worse.
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
The Air Force has set Feb. 12-13 at Hanscom AFB in Massachusetts as the first industry day for the E-4B replacement program.
By Theresa Hitchens
WASHINGTON: The Air Force Chief of Staff appeared to be talking about putting nuclear-armed bombers back on 24-hour alert, but the man who’d make the decision, the head of Strategic Command, wasn’t. After my colleague Marcus Weisgerber reported that Gen. David Goldfein said the Air Force was considering putting bombers back on alert, I checked with…
By Colin Clark
PENTAGON: It’s always difficult to tell when the military is covering its tuckus and when it’s just being careful. So when the outgoing head of the Air Force press desk, Col. Patrick Ryder, told reporters this afternoon that the service had not made any decision about whether to go ahead with a combat test of…
By Colin Clark
WASHINGTON: Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, told the Senate Armed Services Committee today that the White House had decided not to include aerial refueling as a capability for the next Air Force One fleet. Why? To save money. President Donald Trump has apparently made the decision, reflected by this decision and the…
By Colin Clark
SOMEWHERE OVER THE ATLANTIC: Airborne refueling is a key American capability. It makes US fighters, bombers and transport planes able to fly almost anywhere they can find a place to land. It’s also technically complex and requires great skill on the part of the boom operator and the crew of both the receiving aircraft and…
By Colin Clark
