Highlights from this week's Inside the Air Force.
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Courtney Albon was senior editor for aviation and space at Inside Defense until December 2021. She covered the Air Force since 2012, reporting largely on space programs and fighter aircraft acquisition, development and budget from inside Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, and from military installations around the United States. Courtney previously worked as a general assignment reporter at The Ashland Times-Gazette in Ashland, OH, covering education and local government. She graduated from American University in 2008, where she studied journalism and sociology.
Highlights from this week's Inside the Air Force.
The Air Force's interest in a potential re-engining of the B-52 bomber "has never been more serious" than it is now, Boeing officials told Inside the Air Force this week -- noting that the company expects the service will make a decision on whether to pursue the effort by this spring or summer.
The Pentagon's top weapons tester is concerned that delays to the Joint Space Operations Center Mission System modernization effort could lead to cost and schedule delays for the Air Force's new ground-based, space-observing radar, Space Fence.
The Air Force's largely classified constellation of surveillance satellites located in geosynchronous orbit may be ineffective for some of its intended operations, according to a report released this week.
The Air Force announced Thursday it has selected Joint Base Mcguire Dix Lakehurst, NJ, and Travis Air Force Base, CA, as the next two active-duty bases to host the new KC-46 tanker.
Development delays on the newest version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter's diagnostics and health management system will likely push delivery of the final system to mid-2018 and will defer some requirements to future modernization, according to the Pentagon's top weapons tester.
The Air Force has received approval to move forward with an analysis of alternatives for future wideband satellite communications capabilities.
Outgoing Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said Friday that while she does not think an F/A-18 Super Hornet could match the capabilities of the fifth-generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, she appreciates President-elect Donald Trump's apparent interest in reducing cost and finding efficiencies in the Defense Department's portfolio.
The Air Force and Raytheon are not yet "out of the woods" on the troubled development of the next-generation GPS operational control system, outgoing service Secretary Deborah Lee James said Friday, but the program has made significant progress -- due, in part, to the contributions of a team of private-sector software and cyber experts.
The Air Force is re-evaluating its plans for the third increment of its Joint Space Operations Center Mission System upgrade and may instead opt to incorporate emerging space battle management command-and-control requirements into a new, enterprise-level program, a program official recently told Inside the Air Force.
Lockheed Martin confirmed this week it has completed qualification testing of capacitors on the first GPS III satellite and expects the space vehicle will be available for launch "shortly."
The Air Force is looking for sources to develop and install a KC-46 radar receiver mission data file reprogramming center that is needed for the program to declare initial operational capability.
As the Air Force shapes its strategy for acquiring more contracted aggressor support for new combat pilot training, the service this week announced plans to brief industry next month on its requirements and gather feedback on existing capabilities.
The Air Force is evaluating its options for basing two to three squadrons of 24 to 36 new KC-46 tankers and will hold a series of public meetings this month at each of the locations under consideration.
The Air Force has released a request for proposals for its next-generation trainer -- a $16.3 billion development effort with options to build up to 350 aircraft capable of training a fifth-generation fighter fleet.
The Air Force plans to upgrade 343 F-16s through a service-life extension program and is looking for a contractor to integrate the kits beginning in fiscal year 2019.
The F-35 joint program office is implementing recommendations from a Red Team study last spring to improve the way it addresses software stability as it tests Block 3F, the next iteration of Joint Strike Fighter software.
The F-35 joint program office anticipates prime contractor Lockheed Martin will deliver 45 of the 53 jets it expected to produce in 2016, due largely to delays caused by faulty insulation in some of its engine coolant tubes.
Some must-reads from this week's issue of Inside the Air Force.
The Director of Operational Test and Evaluation is working with the F-35 joint program office and the Joint Operational Test Team to determine if certain test events can be conducted prior to the formal start of operational test.