After rancorous debate, a new engine for the stealth fighter was already in doubt, but legislation released by congressional appropriators today seemingly puts the issue to rest.
By Michael MarrowEnterprise-wide training: the Army’s $3.5B program for multi-service combat readiness
The competition for Warfighter Training and Readiness Solutions will bring together training networks, combat training centers and live ranges across the DoD enterprise.
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.
By Michael Marrow
House appropriators do give money to the AETP program in their draft of fiscal 2024’s defense appropriations bill, but another lawmaker says that it’s just a “backup” and for research purposes.
By Michael Marrow
In a high-profile public spat with little precedence between the airframe and engine giants, Pratt & Whitney executives are formally accusing Lockheed Martin of prioritizing its own bottom line by seeking an adaptive engine solution for the Joint Strike Fighter.
By Michael Marrow and Aaron Mehta
“I’m going to advocate, and I do advocate, for [the Adaptive Engine Transition Program, or AETP],” said Lockheed Martin aeronautics chief Greg Ulmer, who labeled “some” current approaches to the fighter’s engine modernization as “short-sighted.”
By Michael Marrow In an interview with Breaking Defense, chairman of the House Armed Services Tactical Air and Land Forces subcommittee Rep. Rob Wittman explains the committee’s thinking behind keeping AETP going, as well as the reason for slashing funds from NGAD.
By Michael Marrow
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said that if the development cost was lower, the Air Force may have found the space in its budget to fund the engine for its jets alone, “but at the level of several billion dollars to do that [engineering and manufacturing development], we couldn’t get there.”
By Michael Marrow
A new approach to speed, scale and efficiency for the industrial base
Radars, EW, EO/IR, space imagery, and microelectronics are brought under one roof for a streamlined approach to common people and factories.
The agreement started as an undefinitized contract action in June 2022. The total value could reach as high as $8 billion.
By Michael Marrow
The Pentagon grounded what officials say is a small number of F35s following the crash of a Joint Strike Fighter in December. The new hardware addresses the “harmonic resonance” issue officials identified during the investigation into the crash.
By Michael Marrow
The fighters require the fix to correct the “harmonic resonance” issue identified during the investigation into the crash of an F-35B in December. “This is a very elegant solution,” a Pratt official said.
By Michael Marrow
The Joint Program Office beleives it has a fix for a “rare system phenomenon involving harmonic resonance” in the F135 engine.
By Aaron Mehta
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has said the Defense Department could decide whether to continue developing an adaptive engine for the F-35 in the fiscal 2024 budget.
By Valerie Insinna “I don’t want to loop along spending [research and development] money on a program that we either can’t afford or we’re just not going to get agreement on among all the different services,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said of the AETP program.
By Valerie Insinna GE sees new F-35 performance demands and a refocused American defense strategy as a chance for its new XA100 engine.
By Aaron Mehta
