WASHINGTON: Despite the Pentagon’s decision to nix the Air Force’s Global Hawk unmanned aircraft from the arsenal in fiscal 2013, officials from prime contractor Northrop Grumman are staging an 11th-hour bid to get some of those planes back into the fleet. Company officials are working a plan to convince the department to proceed with planned… Keep reading →

PENTAGON: The decision to sideline the Global Hawk Block 30 aircraft was made because its sensors aren’t as good as those of the U-2 and the UAV costs more to operate, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz told reporters today. The Global Hawks sensors are “not as capable” as are those of the… Keep reading →

PENTAGON: Two of the Air Force’s senior leaders argued today that fifth generation aircraft like the F-22 and the F-35 are needed for anti-access operations in what looked like a last-minute service effort to bolster the expensive systems before the 2013 budget is released. Lt. Gen. Christopher Miller, deputy chief of staff for strategic plans… Keep reading →

PATUXENT RIVER NAVAL AIR STATION: You climb up into your new Joint Strike fighter in your flight suit, pull on the flight helmet and say, “Hey darling, It’s Squirt. Set up my screens the way I like em and let’s go get some bad guys.” OK. The latest software in Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter… Keep reading →

PATUXENT RIVER NAVAL AIR STATION: Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter program is on track to get back on track. The road ahead is long and bound to be bumpy, but after at least two years of almost unremittingly bad news, the program now can claim several important achievements. That seemed to be Defense Secretary Leon… Keep reading →

UPDATED: Lockheed Martin Comments On F-35 Testing Finishing Year 15 % Ahead of Schedule PENTAGON: If you want some idea of just how closely the Pentagon’s test and evaluation folks are watching Lockheed Martin’s F-35, just open the newly released annual report and thumb through the 12-plus pages of densely packed information about the aircraft.… Keep reading →

(Photo: U.S. Air Force) UPDATED WASHINGTON: Defense giant Boeing may have to prove in person their case to Congress on why they opted to shutter their Kansas facilities last week. “There are still a lot of outstanding questions” on Boeing’s decision to shut down their assembly plant in Wichita, KS and move those operations to… Keep reading →

UPDATED WASHINGTON: It’s been a good couple of weeks for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s international program. Turkish military officials this week approved a deal with JSF prime contractor Lockheed Martin to buy two new A-model F-35s, according to recent news reports.Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed off on the deal late yesterday. Deliveries… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon appears to be moving beyond watching and reporting results from the Joint Strike Fighter program to standing in the room and telling Lockheed Martin when they think the company isn’t doing the right thing. This comes from an August briefing by the program’s director of engineering about the most expensive conventional weapons… Keep reading →

Just before the New Year, the U.S. Air Force finally selected a new Light Air Support plane for ground attack in counterinsurgency, picking the Brazilian Super Tucano over the American AT-6– whose manufacturer, Wichita, Kan.-based Hawker Beechcraft, is filing suit over the decision [update: leading the Air Force to issue a stop-work order on the… Keep reading →