Strike At Lockheed’s F-35 Plant: DoD Budget Cuts Hitting Home?
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WASHINGTON: Anyone who’s attended a hearing on the F-35 since Bob Gates first put the plane in his sights, with costs spinning upwards and schedule bulging outwards, knows that the Pentagon senior leadership is pushing hard to contain costs of the largest conventional acquisition program in U.S. history. That push may have led to a… Keep reading →
Why Air Force Won’t Buy Nuke Mission CVLSP Helos — For A While
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ORLANDO: The nation doesn’t need to rush out and buy the Common Vertical Lift Support Platform, designed to rush troops to nuclear sites or to evacuate senior lawmakers in event of a strike against the capital, because security at missile and other facilities has improved. And there’s not much money around to buy it with.… Keep reading →
Marines Test Helo Drone To Haul MREs and H2O to FOBs
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WASHINGTON: The proposition can’t be proven yet, but it’s likely some Marines in Afghanistan who might have been killed or wounded since mid-December by roadside bombs, aka IEDs, are alive and well today thanks to an experimental unmanned helicopter the Corps is testing. Between Dec. 17 and Jan. 12, two remotely piloted but largely automated… Keep reading →
Navy To Drop 3 Ships in 2013; Won’t ‘Ever’ Hit 313-Ship Goal
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UPDATED: Budget Cuts 8 JHSVs; Two LCS; Two LSDs Retire Early; 1 Virginia Sub Slips Past FYDP; Analyst Says Retirements AND Cuts Mean Service Won’t ‘Ever’ Hit 313 Goal WASHINGTON: The Navy plans to cut a total of 16 ships from its five-year budget, reducing the number of ships funded in fiscal 2013 by three,… Keep reading →
New JSF Software Boasts Voice Commands; It’s Not Siri But…
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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 →
F-35B Weight Margins Pretty Thin, OSD Testers Say
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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 →
Pentagon Pushes For Tougher Management Role in F-35
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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 →
JSF’s Build And Test Was ‘Miscalculation,’ Adm. Venlet Says; Production Must Slow
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WASHINGTON: Fatigue testing and analysis are turning up so many potential cracks and “hot spots” in the Joint Strike Fighter’s airframe that the production rate of the F-35 should be slowed further over the next few years, the program’s head declared in an interview. “The analyzed hot spots that have arisen in the last 12… Keep reading →
Navy To Arm LCS With New Missile System
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Washington: The Navy’s newest warship now has a new missile system to go with it. The Navy will deploy the Raytheon-built Griffin missile system on board its growing fleet of Littoral Combat Ships, Rear Adm. James Murdoch, program executive officer for LCS, said today. An unmodified version of the short-range, surface-to-air missile will be installed… Keep reading →
As Army Mounts Effort to Rescue JLTV, Deal Made for Marine Version
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Washington: The Army is working closely with the Marines to salvage the $54 billion Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno said today. The Senate Appropriations Committee recently killed the JLTV, citing out of control requirements and persistent cost growth. The committee cut JLTV “due to excessive cost growth and constantly… Keep reading →