Roper Warns Boeing On Tankers After Walking KC-46 Line
The Air Force is once again accepting deliveries of the troubled tankers -- but the service's acquisition chief warned Boeing must get its act in order ASAP.
F-35 Threat Library Still Way Too Slow; Light Pilots Cleared to Fly
PENTAGON: The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter possesses a remarkable array of sensors and processors to let it find the enemy and help the pilot kill or evade him. But the crucial threat library — known as Mission Data Files — just isn’t being developed and updated quickly enough, Brig. Gen. Scott Pleus, head of the F-35 […]
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The network transport layer is the backbone of next-generation command and control
Hybrid communications requirements will shape the Army’s data infrastructure of the future.
Pratt Is Making B-21 Engines; Don’t Expect More Tech Info
PENTAGON: Pratt and Whitney, as many assumed, will design and build the engines for the B-21 Long Range Strike Bomber, leaving B-2 bomber engine maker General Electric out in the cold. Air Fore Secretary Deborah Lee James‘ announcement of Pratt’s role, as well as that of six other subcontractors working with prime Northrop Grumman, during […]
Army’s New Radio Strategy Is Unrelenting Competition
Yesterday, the Army awarded three companies a $12.7 billion, 10-year contract for over 60,000 manpack radios. But execs at General Dynamics, Harris, and Rockwell Collins shouldn’t pop champagne corks yet. The Army has radically changed how it buys radios in recent years so that what the “winning” companies have actually won, in essence, is the […]
Navy Winds Up F-35Cs Development Tests On USS Eisenhower
ABOARD USS EISENHOWER: After all the talk from senior Navy leaders about the life cycle costs of the Joint Strike Fighter program and the limits of stealth over the last five years, it was intriguing to hear top Navy commanders and pilots praising the performance of the F-35Cs being tested here. The pilots were using the […]
Army Radios Get Low Marks From DOTE
From handheld radios to high-tech headquarters, the Army’s top priority is what it calls the network. That’s not one project but a whole array of programs, each complex on its own. They all are supposed to interconnect so it’s no surprise that the Pentagon’s top tester has found plenty of problems. What is surprising in […]
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AI in the loop: Transforming military training and system design through smarter simulation
CAE and General Atomics use AI to enhance warfighter readiness, refine aerospace platforms, and learn from simulations.
Radio Wars: General Dynamics Strikes Back
WASHINGTON: Defense contractor General Dynamics has taken hits from the Army, from the Pentagon’s independent Director of Operational Test & Evaluation and from us about its role in the troubled Joint Tactical Radio Systems program. Now, in an interview this morning, the president of GDC4S (that’s General Dynamics Command, Control, Communications, & Computer Systems), Chris Marzilli, […]
‘Year Of The Radio’: Battle On For 3 Key Army Contracts
Part outsider, part incumbent, Harris Corp. is eagerly upsetting applecarts by taking on defense industry colossus General Dynamics and other established contractors in its bid to grab a hat trick in this year’s Army radio competitions. The largest service is expected to make awards in three of its largest communications programs this year as early […]
Army Radios: Contractors Lobby Congress Against Competition
As the Army prepares to choose the new builder of its handheld digital radios, the incumbent contractors are tryiing to convince Congress to keep other companies out. The incumbents are General Dynamics, which publicly apologized to the Army over its half of the program last year, and Rockwell Collins. The Army’s own chief of acquisitions, […]