NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- Air Combat Command chief Gen. Mike Hostage said this week the command and the Army have seriously discussed scrapping the air service's A-10 close-air-support jets -- if Congress will allow it.
Thursday, May 9, 2024
Thursday, May 9, 2024
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- Air Combat Command chief Gen. Mike Hostage said this week the command and the Army have seriously discussed scrapping the air service's A-10 close-air-support jets -- if Congress will allow it.
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- Government and industry Joint Strike Fighter officials are "reinvigorating" efforts to make the aircraft more reliable and maintainable after discovering a variety of parts that require maintenance too frequently and at unnecessary expense, F-35 Program Executive Officer Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan said today.
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- The Air Force's program executive officer for tanker aircraft said today that Boeing, the prime contractor on the new KC-46 refueler, is almost certain to meet its contractual obligation of delivering the first 18 aircraft by the middle of 2017.
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD -- Joint Strike Fighter engine maker Pratt & Whitney expects to submit its offer for the production of the seventh and eighth low-rate initial production lots of the F135 engine to the government this month, according to a senior company executive.
Air Force officials expect to formally select Raytheon by the end of the month as the service’s lead contractor to develop and build ground terminals that will enhance nuclear command-and-control capabilities at bomber bases.
The Joint Strike Fighter program's organic depot in Utah is prepared to begin performing modifications or repairs to the F-35's various commodities, perhaps sharing that work with the Marine Corps-specific depot in North Carolina, but has not yet been tasked to do so by Lockheed Martin and the program office, according to a senior official at the site.
Air Force officials are drawing up plans for one or more performance-based logistics contracts with members of industry to sustain the landing gear, and possibly the wheels and brakes, on more than a dozen platforms in the service's inventory.
The Air Force's next-generation tanker passed a significant milestone today with the completion of the critical design review of the KC-46 refueling aircraft, which is being built by Boeing.
The Air Force hopes to invest up to $65 million in fiscal year 2013 Rapid Innovation Fund money to finance the development of advanced materials, new ballistic missile battery technologies, cost-reduction techniques for the F-35 and a variety of other items, according to the service's FY-13 RIF broad agency announcement released Aug. 8.
The Air Force's commanding officer on the Korean Peninsula told Inside the Air Force this week that the impact of sequestration, coupled with the very high annual turnover rate among airmen in the region, has led pilots transitioning to South Korea to begin their tours with lowered proficiency rates that must be addressed upon arrival.
Defense Department authority for American support of France's military operations in the north African country of Mali is set to expire at the end of this month, but that mission could be extended pending an official request for continued assistance form the French, according to defense officials.
The Defense Department and F-35 prime contractor Lockheed Martin have "reached an agreement in principle" on contracts for the sixth and seventh production lots of the Joint Strike Fighter in a deal that includes buying five aircraft that were slated to be cut due to fiscal year 2013 budget reductions mandated by sequestration, the parties announced in a joint statement today.
The commander of Pacific Air Forces said this morning that Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska appears to be the favorite to be selected as the first overseas base for the Joint Strike Fighter. That basing process is expected to wrap up in early 2014.
The Defense Department's nuclear and missile defense assets are reasonably well protected against the potential threat of an electromagnetic pulse attack, but DOD should ensure its domestic infrastructure is as well, Arizona Republican Rep. Trent Franks told Inside the Pentagon in a July 24 interview.
The Air Force's portion of the B61 gravity bomb life-extension program is proceeding into a busy late summer and fall period, with the service and prime contractor Boeing set to begin a secondary type of wind tunnel testing next month and the company working on the design of its avionics ahead of an important review late this year.
The Defense Department today announced a pair of upcoming senior-leadership changes at Air Force Global Strike Command, the service's newest major command and the organization responsible for Air Force nuclear weapons.
A variety of Air Force combat units will be allowed to resume flying today, three months after being grounded because of sequestration-driven budget cuts, Air Combat Command announced this morning.
A new assessment of international ballistic and cruise missile threats compiled by a trio of Defense Department intelligence organizations warns that the danger to the United States of a land-based cruise missile attack is growing because of the increasing proliferation of those weapons.
One of the Air Force's leading intercontinental ballistic missile contractors expects to complete a research initiative, intended to advance development on a more common and effective missile propellant between the Navy and Air Force, by the end of July.
Air Education and Training Command is close to approving a request from the F-35 training wing at Eglin Air Force Base, FL, to let student pilots -- and not just instructors -- fly JSF aircraft equipped with Block 2A software.