The Air Force this week awarded a long-awaited contract to a Raytheon-led team for a multibillion-dollar consolidated launch range support program.
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
Wednesday, May 8, 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.
The Air Force this week awarded a long-awaited contract to a Raytheon-led team for a multibillion-dollar consolidated launch range support program.
The Air Force has just begun to develop its acquisition strategy for its new weather satellite program and expects to have a plan in place by year's end.
Although the Afghan Air Force has shown an ability to perform in key mission areas such as light airlift and human remains recovery, its resources are limited and it still relies heavily on coalition airpower for aerial fire support, according to a Defense Department report published in late October.
The F-35 Joint Program Office released today the most recent noise data for the Joint Strike Fighter, finding that the aircraft's noise volume while on the ground is comparable with other legacy fighter platforms.
The F-35 joint program office expects to have fielded a near-term engine fix on its 19 test aircraft by the end of December.
The Air Force's target to meet initial operational capability on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter by August 2016 could slip if the experienced A-10 maintainers slated to shift to the fifth-generation platform are forced by Congress to stay put.
The Air Force launched its eighth Global Positioning System IIF satellite today, completing the fourth successful GPS IIF launch this year.
Lockheed Martin will join Northrop Grumman in protesting the Air Force's $71 million contract award to Raytheon for the Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar.
Northrop Grumman has filed a protest against the Air Force's selection of Raytheon to build the Three-Dimensional Long-Range Radar -- a contract that could be worth as much as $1.5 billion.
The Space and Missile Systems Center's revised acquisition strategy for a key sensor sustainment contract has moved through a critical approval, the Air Force announced this week.
Air Force Maj. Gen. Michael Keltz has been appointed to serve as head of Air Education and Training Command, replacing current commander Gen. Robin Rand.
The Defense Department recognizes the imperative to centralize funding of commercial satellite communication services and develop standardized metrics for evaluating its bandwidth needs, but a DOD report delivered to Congress late last month emphasizes that developing a long-term strategy will take substantial initial investment and experimentation.
The Air Force has made exportability an important component of the early design work on its Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar -- a move driven by the potential for cost reduction and cost avoidance as well as what it sees as a large international market for ground-based radars.
The Air Force has awarded Raytheon a $71.8 million contract for the engineering and manufacturing development phase of the Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar program.
Several members of California's congressional delegation told Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in a joint letter this week that they are concerned with the Defense Department's continued reliance on the Russian-made RD-180 engine to send national security payloads to space.
As the Air Force continues to play a key role in the ongoing air strikes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, U.S. Central Command is relying, in part, on partner nations to provide ground-based targeting information that it can then feed through its Joint Terminal Air Controllers and integrate with surveillance data gathered from its own airborne platforms.
Air Combat Command and Air Education and Training Command released their 2014 strategic plans this week, highlighting very broadly their priorities and outlook for the coming year.
Planned F-35C Joint Strike Fighter trials aboard a Navy aircraft carrier are still on track for November, but the Joint Strike Fighter's program executive officer told reporters this week it is possible only one of the two aircraft may be fully capable of fulfilling the activities planned for the trials.
Unanticipated wiring problems continue to push back the KC-46 program's initial flight tests, and the Air Force's program executive officer for the tanker program said on Sept. 16 that it is crucial the effort achieve first flight before the end of this year to remain on track for future milestones.
Executives from F135 engine-maker Pratt & Whitney estimate that they will have retrofitted the program's 21 test aircraft with an interim engine fix by January of next year.