Saturday, December 7, 2024
Key Issues MQ-25 Stingray USSF pLEO spending cap JLTV funding
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.
A new KC-46 Pegasus schedule reflects a significantly reduced testing slate for the Boeing-built tanker and estimates the total acquisition cost will drop by nearly $3 billion as a result, according to an April 9 Government Accountability Office report.
A recent change in leadership at Air Force Global Strike Command is part of a larger effort by the service to take on a weightier role in the national nuclear debate, the Air Force chief of staff said this week.
A $700 million sustainment contract awarded last month to Raytheon will support the continuous effort to move missile and space threat warning and assessment capabilities to the electromagnetic pulse-hardened Cheyenne Mountain Complex in Colorado, according to the head of U.S. Northern Command.
The Government Accountability Office has assessed the Air Force's technology insertion efforts for the Space-Based Infrared System as essentially too little, too late, and is recommending the service be proactive in developing a technology insertion plan for a future follow-on system.
The Air Force will host a pre-solicitation conference May 5-7 to discuss requirements for its next-generation trainer.
HARTFORD, CT -- As the Air Force moves through renewed discussions about replacing the engine in its 60-year-old B-52 bomber, Pratt & Whitney is discussing with the service an engine upgrade that would allow the aircraft to maintain its current design without an intrusive airframe modification.
The Air Force wants to reprogram $190 million in Overseas Contingency Operations funding to boost its inventory of Predator Hellfire missiles in support of operations in Iraq and Syria.
The first phase of a wide-ranging analysis of the Air Force's process for certifying new entrants to the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle market found that the current process lacks clarity in the purpose of the review and may be too broad in its scope than is necessary for the initial certification of a new launch vehicle.
Following last year's record-setting launch slate of four Global Positioning System missions, the Air Force on March 25 successfully launched the ninth GPS IIF satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
In a letter sent this week to Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) writes that he is disappointed with the service's approach to achieving a 20 percent headquarters staff reduction, calling its plan a "shell game."
The Marine Corps has said it will declare F-35 initial operational capability with a technically deficient version of the Block 2B software as the program office works to fix sensor fusion issues identified during testing.
The Pentagon's latest Selected Acquisition Report shows a $7.5 billion decrease in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program's acquisition costs, but a $4.4 billion increase in airframe cost.
The Air Force plans to release a draft request for proposals next month to assess industry interest in a new rocket engine development program; in the meantime, House lawmakers said this week that relaxing restrictions on RD-180 use after 2019 may be an option for dealing with a potential capability gap.
The Air Force's overseer of the KC-46 tanker development program does not expect the initial flight of the first militarized engineering and manufacturing development aircraft will occur on April 20 as planned.
The head of the Air National Guard said this week he is confident the Air Force will follow through on its plan to assign "an appropriate percentage" of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft to Guard units.
The Air Force is weighing whether to install a fully integrated, active electronically scanned radar system on F-16s performing homeland defense missions in the United States or opt for a less-expensive version that would be tailored specifically for air-to-air combat.
Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) said this week that he supports the Air Force's request for relaxation of a congressional push to eliminate the use of the Russian-made RD-180 rocket engine by 2019.
A Defense Department inspector general analysis of the F-35 joint program office's and prime contractor Lockheed Martin's quality assurance processes found that while the effort is making progress, it faces challenges that could have implications for future full-rate production goals.
The Air Force is considering equipping some F-16 fighters with an active electronically scanned radar system, and according to a notice posted March 6 to the Federal Business Opportunities website, production orders could begin later this year.
The Air Force and Raytheon are working together to solidify a new program baseline for the next-generation Global Positioning System ground control center, after continued delays to the program triggered a Pentagon-level review last month.