Thursday, April 18, 2024
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.
ORLANDO, FL -- The Air Force will debut a directed energy flight plan that sets out near-term action items to make fielding a laser weapon a reality by 2030, the Air Force Research Laboratory's top planner told Inside the Air Force last week.
ORLANDO, FL -- Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein told reporters Friday he will green-light an experiment this week to explore and test light-attack aircraft this summer at Holloman Air Force Base, NM. (UPDATED)
ORLANDO, FL -- Boeing and Sikorsky this week unveiled their offerings for the competition to replace the UH-1N Huey, following the Air Force's recent announcement that it will release a second draft request for proposals next month and delay the final version until this summer.
A staffer for the Senate Armed Services Committee said this week she expects lawmakers' strong bipartisan commitment to the nuclear deterrent will hold, despite the fiscal challenge of modernization over the next two decades.
ORLANDO, FL -- Northrop Grumman successfully flew the MS-177 multi-spectral sensor on the RQ-4 Global Hawk in its first test that began Feb. 8, company officials told Inside the Air Force Feb. 1, as the remotely piloted aircraft prepares to replace some of the U-2's intelligence-gathering capabilities upon the Dragon Lady's retirement.
ORLANDO, FL -- Air Force acquisition executive Darlene Costello said this week the service has worked with the White House for the past few weeks on requirements for the Presidential Aircraft Recapitalization program and expects to receive more information from the military office soon.
ORLANDO, FL -- Boeing and Leonardo this week unveiled their offering for the competition to replace the UH-1N Huey, following the Air Force's announcement that it will release a second draft request for proposals next month and delay the final version until this summer. (UPDATED)
Sikorsky announced Tuesday it will offer the HH-60U Black Hawk helicopter in the Air Force's competition to replace the UH-1N Huey fleet.
The Air Force plans to stop flying the MQ-1 Predator by July 1 as it prepares to fully retire the remotely piloted aircraft by early 2018 after 21 years in service.
The Air Force is tentatively considering procuring missile rail launchers to carry and fire the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile on fighter aircraft, in a price-only competition of qualified vendors for a requirements-type contract, the service said Thursday in a Federal Business Opportunities notice.
Some must-reads from this week's issue of Inside the Air Force.
The Air Force is eyeing off-the-shelf products to build an aircraft teaming network over the next decade before creating a long-term solution under the Loyal Wingman program, and will release more details in a broad agency announcement in the next few months.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said this week the Air Force will ask Congress to fund its light-attack aircraft experiment, planned for this spring, in the fiscal year 2017 supplemental defense budget request.
None of the companies interested in offering a replacement helicopter for the UH-1N Huey are currently able to put forth a product that meets all of the Air Force's requirements, a service spokeswoman confirmed to Inside the Air Force this week.
The Air Force hopes to launch at least one analysis of alternatives to explore intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft and sensor options in the next two to three years, and is currently working with industry on "multiple lines of effort to determine the best mix of force structure," a service spokesman recently told Inside the Air Force.
A draft of the Air Force's environmental impact statement for the Presidential Aircraft Recapitalization program released last month said the service has not yet decided how many Boeing 747-8 aircraft to buy, and the service's top spokesman this week declined to answer when that decision might be made and what issues still need to be considered.
The 42nd Air Base Wing at Maxwell Air Force Base, AL, is procuring a portable system that can electronically detect and defeat personal unmanned aircraft systems, according to a Federal Business Opportunities notice posted Feb. 22.
The Air Force is buying 21 shoulder-fired aerial defense system kits to counter short-term unmanned aerial system threats, under a nearly $16 million sole-source contract to Israeli-owned ELTA North America, a Defense Department contract notice stated Tuesday.
The Air Force expects to set up a program of record to counter small unmanned aerial systems by the end of fiscal year 2018, according to a service spokeswoman, as the threat of armed small UAS grows in the Middle Eastern theater.
Some must-reads from this week's issue of Inside the Air Force.