Brig. Gen. Bill Cooley will take over as Air Force Research Laboratory commander, replacing Lt. Gen. Robert McMurry as he moves on to head the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, the service announced Wednesday.
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Tuesday, April 23, 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.
Brig. Gen. Bill Cooley will take over as Air Force Research Laboratory commander, replacing Lt. Gen. Robert McMurry as he moves on to head the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, the service announced Wednesday.
Congressional authorizers backed down from their intent to consolidate Air Force nuclear weapons authority under one major command, instead agreeing in the fiscal year 2017 defense policy bill that the head of U.S. Strategic Command should certify the Air Force's ability to oversee survivable, endurable parts of the integrated tactical warning and attack assessment system.
Boeing on Dec. 15 was awarded $90 million to research and develop a high-energy laser pod, beating out three other companies for the latest contract in the Self-Protect High-Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) program.
Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall notified government leaders the Air Force will take an alternate approach to certifying the Presidential Aircraft Recapitalization program's survivability and lethality after waiving systemic tests, according to a letter sent in October.
An Air Force Scientific Advisory Board study that explored whether a laser mounted on a Lockheed Martin AC-130J could pass offensive and defensive muster found slab lasers -- which create a beam using a geometric crystal -- are the right size, weight, and power to make a demonstration possible, the head of the board told reporters this week.
Congressional conferees are allowing the Air Force to go ahead with producing as many of Boeing's Joint Direct Attack Munition tail kits and Small Diameter Bombs in fiscal year 2017 as it requested, while the latest continuing resolution allows the two programs to proceed without delay.
Congress is allowing the Air Force to move the EC-130H Compass Call's equipment onto a "more operationally effective and survivable airborne platform" using fiscal year 2017 funds, but will let the service buy only two new Compass Call aircraft at first to ensure the platform meets combatant command needs. If so, the Air Force can proceed to buy the other eight of the 10-aircraft fleet.
Congressional authorizers are letting the U-2 Dragon Lady retire as planned, rather than keep a provision in the fiscal year 2017 defense policy bill that would block funding for the retirement.
The Air Force on Nov. 17 announced its plan to extend Raytheon's contract to upgrade the network connecting the White House to Minuteman III forces by two years because the program has been delayed by about a year-and-a-half, though the additional cost is still under negotiation. A contract award is expected Nov. 16, 2018.
Sikorsky completed its training systems preliminary design review for the Combat Rescue Helicopter in August, and has built a new laboratory complex to test the helicopter's main flight systems, the company announced Wednesday.
President-elect Donald Trump said on Twitter Tuesday morning that the government's contract with Boeing to replace Air Force One should be canceled, alleging the recapitalization program is "out of control" at more than $4 billion.
The Air Force released a draft request for proposals for its UH-1N Huey replacement program on Friday, announcing its intent to procure up to 84 helicopters through an open competition.
Congressional conferees further defined the administration's tools to defend nuclear sites against unmanned aerial vehicles, as part of the conference agreement to the fiscal year 2017 defense policy bill released this week.
A Defense Department intelligence official said this week that while the future of machine learning is not so far away, the Pentagon is still trying to figure out how to combine Third Offset components like autonomy, teaming and deep learning into an overarching strategy that warfighters can use.
Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Marcel Lettre has submitted a letter of resignation effective Jan. 20, 2017, a Pentagon intelligence official said this week, as the Defense Department waits to hear who Republican President-elect Donald Trump will nominate as his replacement.
U.S. Strategic Command may conduct an analysis of alternatives to find ways to better address electronic warfare across the services, Brig. Gen. Edward Sauley said at an Association of Old Crows conference Tuesday. While the responsibility for electronic warfare lies with STRATCOM for now, Sauley speculated that U.S. Cyber Command could take over that field in the next two decades.
Air Force Global Strike Command and the UH-1N Huey replacement program office will brief industry on the Huey overhaul for the third time Dec. 12 to 14 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH, the service said in a Nov. 23 Federal Business Opportunities notice.
The Air Force closed more than half of the 225 notices of findings and recommendations issued in its fiscal year 2015 Schedule of Budgetary Activity audit and put corrective actions in place, the Defense Department's chief financial officer said in a November 2016 audit status report.
The Air Force Research Laboratory is offering companies nearly $50 million across five years to move unmanned aircraft closer to being capable of autonomy, waging cyber warfare and more, according to a Nov. 10 broad agency announcement on the Federal Business Opportunities website.
An Air Force inspection of five E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System aircraft revealed two maintenance errors on two jets, a service official told Inside the Air Force last week.