"Transparency (canopy) supply shortages continue to be the main obstacle to achieving this. We are seeking additional sources to fix unserviceable canopies," Esper said in response to written questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Adding extra firepower to the F-35 shows how loudly Lockheed hears the footsteps of Boeing's F-15X approaching.
As threats rapidly evolve, digital engineering, manufacturing capacity and robust supply chains are critical to meeting challenges.
WASHINGTON: China is not ready to wage war far beyond the shores of Taiwan, but it is pressing hard to develop some advanced weapons and increasingly wants to project power beyond its shores with an increasingly capable military. Those are the fundamental conclusions of the Defense Intelligence Agency in a unique report with its roots […]
WASHINGTON: The first-ever real-world strike by an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is a big symbolic moment, as the Pentagon is well aware. It’s also a milestone towards making the F-35 a close-support aircraft to bomb targets threatening US ground troops, replacing the beloved A-10 Warthog. That’s why the military not only had a press release […]
ABOARD THE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN: The Navy dragged its feet for years after committing to buy the F-35C for carrier operations. They worried it would be too expensive to maintain. They worried the tailhook problems would persist. They worried it was too heavy. Let’s face it: the Navy leadership was just worried. After all, they […]
Flying out past the first island chain, China's air force is undergoing "the most comprehensive restructure in its history to become a force capable of conducting complex joint operations," according to a new Pentagon report.
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.
Manned air and ground forces would work together and protect each other along the front line, while relatively expendable drones and missiles go deep into enemy airspace.
WASHINGTON: The Senate Armed Services Committee has proposed the most sweeping reevaluation of the military in 30 years, with tough questions for all four armed services but especially the Marine Corps. While its provisions cover topics ranging from swarming robots to “construction and maintenance of public works in Cis-Lunar Space,” its overwhelming focus is reorienting […]
TEL AVIV: The Israeli Air Force (IAF) may delay the acquisition of a third Lockheed Martin F-35 squadron in favor of a fast purchase of additional new versions of the F-15. In recent deliberations within the IAF’s high command, the leading direction was clear – -priority for the additional F-15’s while delaying the purchase of […]
WASHINGTON: The US military is “not prepared” to conduct radio and radar jamming against high-end adversaries, a veteran electronic warfare officer now in Congress says. We have made major progress jamming terrorist communications in Afghanistan and Iraq, says Rep. Don Bacon, a retired one-star general who recently visited both countries. But even against such low-tech foes, […]
Government can’t stop to update systems, so modernization has to happen without interruptions.
CAPITOL HILL: The Air Force is finalizing a high-tech “flight plan” for Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance investments, the deputy chief of staff for ISR said here. The service can’t keep buying more and more drones to collect more and more data and then hiring more and more human analysts to plow through it, Lt. Gen. […]
CORRECTED: Changed Stealth To Fifth Generation Fighters In Fifth Paragraph. WASHINGTON: Can the Christmas holidays come quickly enough? Republicans, hungry for their first major legislative accomplishment since the 2016 elections, are focused above and beyond all else on changes to tax law, leaving a dangerous vacuum into which a shutdown could fall. Last week, the […]
CORRECTED: Inserted Photo Of Minuteman III; Removed Photo Of Titan WASHINGTON: Gen. Robin Rand, the Air Force bomber and missile boss, really wants new jet engines for his aging B-52s. The service has invited interested companies to a two-day information session in December and Boeing and Rolls-Royce are already publicly campaigning for the contract. But, […]
WASHINGTON: Air Mobility Command, an experienced observer of gaining FAA certification for civilian aircraft rebuilt for military purposes, is using its knowledge to try to lower the costs of the replacement for Air Force One. The head of AMC, Gen. Carlton Everhart, told me this afternoon they hoped to find “efficiencies” in the process of […]