Sikorsky this week filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office in a disagreement over the Air Force's data and software requirements for the UH-1N replacement program.
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Key Issues Optical clocks Prototype funding SPAFORGEN
Rachel Cohen was managing editor for Inside the Air Force until January 2019. She previously covered the public health insurance marketplaces for Inside Health Policy and primary, secondary and higher education at the Frederick News-Post in Frederick County, Maryland. She graduated from American University in 2013 with a bachelor's degree in international studies and journalism.
Sikorsky this week filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office in a disagreement over the Air Force's data and software requirements for the UH-1N replacement program.
The Air Force is asking Congress to fund a new $13.5 million procurement program for the RQ-20B Puma in its fiscal year 2019 budget request, after the service unsuccessfully tried to reprogram money to purchase the small unmanned aerial vehicles last year.
The Air Force is pursuing new battle management and command-and-control efforts after abandoning the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System recapitalization program in its fiscal year 2019 budget request.
The Air Force's $156.3 billion fiscal year 2019 budget proposal calls for 48 new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, 15 KC-46 aerial refuelers and 36,000 Joint Direct Attack Munitions.
Sources told Inside Defense this week they expect the Air Force will not fund the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System recapitalization in the Defense Department's fiscal year 2019 request, a stark change of course from its original plan.
As Raytheon's Small Diameter Bomb II moves through its test program, the new weapon performed well against moving targets but still had problems hitting static and maritime targets, the Pentagon's director of operational test and evaluation said in his annual report published last month.
Lockheed Martin said this week the extended-range variant of its Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile reached full operational capability on the F-15E, and the company is looking to finalize a Lot 16 production contract this year.
Air Force Distributed Common Ground System officials say the director of operational test and evaluation's latest findings on the program are outdated because he did not account for recent software updates and new system baselines.
Air Force officials plan to recommend a slate of tactical and training changes by Feb. 11, following a study on the future of command-and-control assets at Nellis Air Force Base, NV.
General Atomics has received $49.3 million to develop common MQ-9 Reaper software under an open agreement that facilitates upgrades to the remotely piloted aircraft, according to a Defense Department contract announcement.
Air Force Special Operations Command plans to buy small unmanned aerial systems to survey airfields and determine whether aircraft can land there, the service said this week.
Air Force and Army officials will delve further into understanding joint, multidomain operations using three tabletop exercises held in the next six months, which will help the Army finalize the second version of its Multidomain Battle concept by summer 2019.
Air Force officials are still nailing down the specifics of a heavy maintenance plan for Northrop Grumman's RQ-4, and will bring a third aircraft to Robins Air Force Base, GA, within the next few months.
Mobility and combat air forces need a better understanding of communication authorities when working alongside command-and-control aircraft, an Air Force official said following the largest joint forcible entry exercise to date.
The Air Force needs end-to-end testing of its Distributed Common Ground System to ensure it can plan, process and exploit multiple classified and unclassified data sources to produce useful intelligence, as only three of eight component programs have been operationally tested, according to the Pentagon's director of operational test and evaluation.
The Air Force chose to field upgrades to the Air Operations Center Weapon System last year even though it knew cybersecurity vulnerabilities persisted, the Pentagon's director of operational test and evaluation said in his fiscal year 2017 report released this week.
Developmental testing on Northrop Grumman's RQ-4 Global Hawk revealed the MS-177 sensor's electromagnetic interference could lead to false signals intelligence reporting, the Pentagon's director of operational test and evaluation wrote in his fiscal year 2017 report released this week.
Air Force Air Combat Command is planning a second airborne networking industry day this spring to build on discussions from last year's meeting, with the goal of developing cloud-based technology that allows fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft to communicate.
The head of Air Force Air Combat Command this week outlined three near-term investments he believes the Air Force should make to achieve true joint, multidomain operations, as the Pentagon expects to publish its fiscal year 2019 budget request early next month.
Air Force Air Combat Command and the Army's Training and Doctrine Command will begin a series of four tabletop exercises over the next year to refine how the services would approach multidomain combat together, the head of ACC said this week.