Courtney Albon

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.

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Daily News | February 18, 2016

A top Air Force planning and strategy official said this week that much of the Air Force's fiscal year 2017 investment in the Defense Department's “Third Offset” plans comes through activities that were already in motion and align with the Pentagon's larger imperative to ensure future U.S. military superiority.

Daily News | February 16, 2016

The Government Accountability Office on Tuesday denied Boeing's protest of the Air Force's decision to award a lucrative Long-Range Strike Bomber contract to rival Northrop Grumman.

Daily News | February 12, 2016

Discussions about a new "arsenal plane" are still in the concept phase, the Air Force said Feb. 12, confirming that the Pentagon has no near-term development plans for an airborne magazine.

The Insider | February 12, 2016

The Pentagon's cost assessment and program evaluation office has signed off on a two-year-long review of the Air Force's Space-Based Infrared System.

Daily News | February 12, 2016

The Air Force said Friday that it's "too early to tell" whether the recent disclosure that the spouse of a top acquisition official has a Northrop Grumman retirement account will impact the ongoing protest of the Long-Range Strike Bomber award.

Daily News | February 12, 2016

As the Air Force continues to explore options for financing a B-52 re-engining project, the office in charge of the effort is optimistic the service will identify a feasible way ahead.

Daily News | February 12, 2016

The Air Force's fiscal year 2017 budget for the next-generation Global Positioning System ground control system includes a "late add" of $234 million to account for its best guess at how a new, two-year development delay will impact the near-term costs and shows a $1.6 billion spike in the program's total cost.

Daily News | February 12, 2016

The Air Force in its $120 billion fiscal year 2017 budget request proposes spending $949 million on new-start programs -- including a $296 investment in a new launch vehicle, a $32 million boost to the UH-1N Huey replacement program, and nearly $24 million to invest in new capabilities for the A-10 Warthog, which is no longer tagged for retirement in the service's future years defense plan.

Daily News | February 10, 2016

The Defense Department's fiscal year 2017 budget does not include near-term plans to invest in a multiyear F-35 procurement deal, but buy-in from international partners will keep it alive should the United States opt in in future years.

The Insider | February 10, 2016

The Air Force's fiscal year 2017 budget request issued this week proposes a more-than-$3-billion reduction in Long-Range Strike Bomber development spending between FY-17 and FY-20 than it had proposed in its FY-16 request.

Daily News | February 9, 2016

The Air Force's fiscal year 2017 budget request deals a blow to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and Long-Range Strike Bomber, while increasing investment in munitions procurement and modernization.

Daily News | February 9, 2016

The Air Force said Tuesday that its move to reduce F-35 Joint Strike Fighter procurement by 45 aircraft over the next four years won't impact the service's overall plan to buy a total of 1,763 jets.

The Insider | February 5, 2016

The Air Force on Feb. 4 awarded Lockheed Martin a $96 million contract to make crucial modifications to the existing Global Positioning System ground station that will allow it to operate next-generation satellites despite the expected late delivery of follow-on ground infrastructure.

Daily News | February 5, 2016

The Defense Department is beginning to analyze its policy around space program classification levels, and is considering where it might make sense to make some protected program information available publicly or at lower classification levels.

Daily News | February 5, 2016

After completing durability tests last July for a key F-16 service-life extension program, prime contractor Lockheed Martin and the Air Force are on track to complete the teardown of the aircraft next month, and will begin delivering upgrade kits this June.

Daily News | February 5, 2016

With key software development and radar production on the near-term slate for the Air Force's Space Fence program, 2016 is likely to be its busiest and most challenging year, according to program manager Dana Whalley.

Daily News | February 5, 2016

Although the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter's operational suitability is lower than desired by its users -- and though it still has a long way to go in achieving the program's availability goals -- the platform has shown improvement in almost all suitability measures over the last year, according to the Pentagon's top weapons tester.

Daily News | February 3, 2016

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter's current aircraft modification plan predicts that none of the program's operational test aircraft will be upgraded to the Block 3F configuration in time for initial operational test and evaluation, according to the Pentagon's top weapons tester.

Daily News | February 1, 2016

The Pentagon's top weapons tester is questioning the F-35 joint program office's plans to lock in a multiyear procurement deal before the aircraft has completed initial operational test and evaluation.

The Insider | January 29, 2016

The Air Force is crafting a "security posture" for the Long-Range Strike Bomber program that will determine the appropriate classification levels for information related to the bomber's development.

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