Thursday, May 2, 2024
Key Issues HADES deployment SAOC contract FORGE framework
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.
With initial KC-46 deliveries eyed next summer, the Air Force is wrapping up the large construction efforts and is working through the late-stage logistics required to house the new tanker at its first operational and training locations.
The Air Force last week awarded more than $2 billion in advanced engine development contracts to Pratt & Whitney and General Electric.
The Air Force this week awarded more than $2 billion in advanced engine development contracts to Pratt & Whitney and General Electric.
The Air Force on Thursday declared a Nunn-McCurdy breach on the Raytheon-built, next-generation Global Positioning System ground component, after determining that the program's cost will spike more than 25 percent above its cost thresholds.
F-35 program officials expect to have a Joint Requirements Oversight Council-approved Block 4 capability development document in hand by late this summer -- a milestone that will solidify follow-on modernization requirements and help set the foundation for the capabilities necessary to operate in the future threat environment.
Increased F-22 utilization has the Air Force and Pratt & Whitney considering changes to the Raptor's F119 engine maintenance plan that could increase the peak overhaul rate.
As the Air Force prepares to integrate the F-35A into its fleet, the outgoing general in charge of the service's Joint Strike Fighter integration office and one of the Pacific Air Force's top cybersecurity officials are highlighting the need for increased data exploitation and connectivity capabilities for fifth-generation aircraft.
As the Air Force works to obtain an approved acquisition strategy this fall for the follow-on to its Space-Based Infrared System satellite constellation, it's seeking input from industry to help understand industrial base capabilities, address new targets and threats as well as balance its needs for innovative solutions with affordability.
Some must-reads from this week's issue of Inside the Air Force.
The Defense Department is studying the feasibility of leveraging international launch vehicles for national security space access as a backup plan should the department be unable to maintain competitive launch assurance, according to an Air Force spokeswoman.
The Air Force's yearlong developmental planning effort exploring future air superiority is recommending upgrades to F-22 and F-35 aircraft and will also inform ongoing plans for a future air refueling capability beyond the KC-46 tanker.
The Air Force is looking to work with industry to inform its internal research and development spending on aircraft innovation, and will hold an engagement event this fall to raise awareness about its interests in the areas of aircraft propulsion, fixed-wing vehicles, hypersonics and rotary-wing vehicles.
Incoming Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein recently reiterated the service's insistence that the B-21 bomber's total cost remain classified in order to "protect vital information and capabilities of the aircraft."
The Air Force last week awarded CACI a contract worth up to $445 million to consolidate operations of its satellite control network.
The chief of the Air Force's F-35 system management office at Air Combat Command said this week there are no known technical issues that should prevent the service from making an initial operational capability decision this year.
Despite a projected one-year delay to the KC-46's August 2017 required assets available target, the Air Force this week said it expects the aircraft delivered ahead of that milestone will be able to perform nearly all capabilities required of the refueling aircraft.
Some must-reads from this week's edition of Inside the Air Force.
Driving the Air Force's shift away from "next-generation" thinking in its vision for future air superiority is a need to field rapid, adaptable capabilities in a budget-restrained, evolving threat environment, according to the service's top uniformed official.
HARTFORD, CT -- F-35 engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney recently completed a test on its corrosion engine test article as part of the overall component improvement program.
The Joint Requirements Oversight Council has directed the Air Force to explore a "material solution" as an option to address two glaring gaps in the service's space-based weather monitoring capability, and the service expects to return with a refined list of opportunities by the fall.