The Air Force late today issued yet another amendment to its solicitation for the still-in-limbo Combat Search-and-Rescue Helicopter Replacement Program.
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Key Issues Optical clocks Prototype funding SPAFORGEN
The Air Force late today issued yet another amendment to its solicitation for the still-in-limbo Combat Search-and-Rescue Helicopter Replacement Program.
Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz are scheduled to meet with a senior member of President-elect Barack Obama's transition team today.
The Air Force's premier fighter jet is plagued by mediocre mission-capability rates and needs more than $8 billion in improvements to bring the first 100 F-22A Raptors up to their originally mandated requirements, the Pentagon's top weapons buyer said this morning.
Pentagon acquisition chief John Young might not approve the production of seven Navy F-35 Joint Strike Fighters until aircraft builder Lockheed Martin and engine maker Pratt & Whitney certify short-take-off-and-vertical-landing power plants for flight, he told reporters today.
The Pentagon's top weapons buyer is considering a $3 billion installment order for the military's largest fighter jet program, a decision that could allow the Air Force, Navy and two European allies the opportunity to move forward with the purchase of 17 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.
A Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II blasted through the sound barrier for the first time yesterday, according to a company official.
The Pentagon's acquisition executive has thrown the Lockheed Martin-run F-22A program a three-month lifeline, granting the Air Force permission earlier this week to spend just enough money to keep its fighter program alive until the incoming Obama administration decides whether to extend production beyond current plans that call for 183 Raptors.
The Air Force announced today it will issue a "minor amendment" to the combat search-and-rescue helicopter replacement program's request for proposal, making it the seventh amended request for the troubled and highly sought-after acquisition program.
The cancellation of the Bell Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter program could have a trickle-down effect all the way to the fledgling Iraqi air force in Baghdad.
The Air Force is planning dramatic cuts to its fighter force in fiscal year 2010 in an attempt to find $3.4 billion to bolster other combat aircraft, munitions inventories, ISR and manpower efforts, InsideDefense.com has learned.
The Defense Department is planning a new pilot program to arm low-flying unmanned aircraft with precision weapons, a move to emulate strike capabilities of higher-flying Predator UAVs that Pentagon officials believe could point toward an entire class of small, unmanned systems capable of killing targets they locate.
The Pentagon has told Congress it wants to sell the United Kingdom three RC-135 Rivet Joint signals intelligence aircraft to the tune of more than $1 billion, the Defense Department announced this afternoon.
For the first time in months, the Air Force has a nearly complete senior leadership staff.
Boeing Integrated Defense Systems delivered 31 military aircraft in the third quarter of fiscal year 2008, the company reported this morning.
The Senate Armed Services Committee voted today to confirm Michael Donley as Air Force secretary.
The Air Force this month will begin training unmanned aerial system operators straight out of undergraduate pilot training instead of shifting rated pilots from fighter and attack platforms into the drone operation roles.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates told lawmakers this morning that the Pentagon has terminated a $35 billion effort to replace the Air Force's KC-135 aerial refueling tankers. The announcement came during a House Armed Services Committee hearing.
The Pentagon plans to award a highly coveted, multibillion-dollar Air Force tanker contract by year's end, a senior Defense Department acquisition official said this afternoon.
The Senate Armed Services Committee today approved the nomination of Air Force Gen. Norton Schwartz to become the air service's chief of staff by a 14-1 vote.
Giving the A-10 an Extra Boost: Pratt & Whitney President Tom Farmer said a derivative of the company's PW800 commercial engine would help increase the thrust on Air Force A-10 Warthogs if the service decides to upgrade the power plant on the venerable attack jet.