Deliveries of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft are on track to resume this summer, albeit with a truncated version of Technology Refresh-3 software upgrades, top Lockheed Martin executives told shareholders today during a call to discuss the company's first-quarter earnings. The not-yet-complete, or “combat training capable configuration,” tranche may arrive at squadrons by the third quarter of 2024, but fully combat-coded TR-3 deliveries won’t begin until 2025, said Jim Taiclet, Lockheed Martin’s chief executive officer. The idea is to get...

( UPDATE: The Senate voted 79-18 to pass the supplemental spending package .) Senate leaders, following the House's weekend passage of a massive national security supplemental poised to inject $50 billion into the U.S. defense sector, is taking up the spending package and hopes to pass it late tonight amid the objections of some lawmakers. The $95 billion spending measure, which passed the House in several bills that would aid Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, pay for ongoing U.S. operations in the...

The Defense Department would only need to report foreign attacks on "critical" national security space capabilities under a legislative proposal submitted to Congress last week. Rather than requiring the commander of U.S. Space Command to provide Congress notice of attempts to “disrupt, degrade or destroy” any such capabilities, it would only need to tell Congress if the capability is deemed “critical,” according to the proposal. SPACECOM would still need to provide such notice within 48 hours of the attempted attacks...

The Army is developing a "risk framework" for artificial intelligence as a key priority as the service looks to build out Project Linchpin -- the service's first pipeline for AI and machine learning. Young Bang, the Army’s principal deputy assistant secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology, told reporters April 22 that among the risks surrounding AI the Army must examine are “poisoned datasets, adversarial attacks and trojans.” “It's easier to do if you have developed it in a controlled, trusted...