WASHINGTON: Boeing’s big win to supply Saudi Arabia with F-15 fighters could set up a larger, more lucrative deal to revamp the country’s naval forces, according to company officials. Washington and Riyadh inked a $29.4 billion deal to provide 84 new Boeing-built F-15E fighters for the Royal Saudi Air Force. Boeing and the Air Force… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: A blockbuster deal to sell the Air Force’s advanced Global Hawk aerial drone to South Korea has been put on ice for now, according to government sources in Seoul. Military leaders from the Asian nation scuttled the nearly $400 to $800 million deal for four Global Hawk aircraft when negotiators from Washington and Seoul… Keep reading →

Robbin Laird, a member of the AOL Board of Contributors and vocal F-35 proponent, outlines why Japan’s decision to purchase the Joint Strike Fighter will redefine the U.S. and its allies fly and fight in the Pacific. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will be the cornerstone of Japanese defense. The Japanese know something about technology.… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: A day after locking in Japan as the next the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter partner nation, Defense giant Lockheed Martin is setting its sights on South Korea. The fifth-generation fighter “can meet [all] the requirements” laid out by the South Korean military for its FX-III fighter competition, Steve O’Bryan, Lockheed’s vice president of program… Keep reading →

UPDATED CAPITOL HILL: The $669 billion set aside by defense lawmakers for fiscal 2012 is $24 billion short of the White House’s initial request but will be enough to finance several of the Pentagon’s high-profile programs. The Pentagon will get $554 billion in its baseline budget and $115.5 billion to continue fighting the wars in… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The unfolding economic crisis threatening the European Union could ripple through the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s crucial international program, the Pentagon’s top military officer said today. Partner nation participation in the JSF program “will clearly [be] put at risk if all the predictions about an [European] economic collapse would occur,” Chairman of the Joint… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: A former senior Pentagon official with extensive knowledge of unmanned aerial vehicles expressed great skepticism of the aircraft supposed to be a stealthy RQ-170 shown on Iranian television today. We asked one of Washington’s most experienced UAV experts to have a look at the Iranian TV footage today. They say it’s a stealthy RQ-170… Keep reading →

Robbin Laird, a member of the AOL Board of Contributors, is a well known supporter of the F-35. When he read Sen. McCain’s recent criticism of the program Laird immediately began to pen a rebuttal. We present his analysis and commentary. The whirling dervish of the Senate has struck again. Rather than rebuilding US and… Keep reading →

UPDATED — LRIP 5 Contract Agreement Reached CAPITOL HILL: Sen. John McCain took to the Senate floor this afternoon to criticize Lockheed Martin’s handling of the Joint Strike Fighter program and pressed for the company “to assume an increased share of any cost overruns.” McCain, who cited Breaking Defense’s interview last week with F-35 program… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: One of the most entertaining, compelling and raucous battles ever to rock the Pentagon and Capitol Hill is officially over. General Electric and Rolls Royce today formally declared dead the F-136 engine program for the Joint Strike Fighter. Those who supported the “alternate” or “second” engine will never shy sway from pledging their troth,… Keep reading →