F-35 LRIP 11 Signed: $89M For An F-35A, Including Engine — But SC Crash Casts Shadow
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102 F-35As (Air Force) for $89.2 million apiece, down 5.4 percent from LRIP 10;
25 F-35Bs (Marines & Royal Navy) for $115.5 million each, down 5.7 percent; and 14 F-35Cs (US Navy) for $107.7 million each, down 11.1 percent.
F-35’s First Combat Strike Won’t End Debate
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WASHINGTON: The first-ever real-world strike by an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is a big symbolic moment, as the Pentagon is well aware. It’s also a milestone towards making the F-35 a close-support aircraft to bomb targets threatening US ground troops, replacing the beloved A-10 Warthog. That’s why the military not only had a press release… Keep reading →
Boeing-Leonardo Team Scoops Up $2.38B UH-1N Replacement Deal
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The head of Strategic Command must be very happy this evening, having learned that the Air Force is finally buying a new helicopter to guard America’s ICBM fields. The Boeing-Leonardo team won the contract to supply 84 helicopters.
Japan Aegis Ship Tracks, Destroys Ballistic Missile
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The Japanese government is spending billions on sea and ground-based missile defenses, but all the talk in the Pentagon is on space, as the U.S. scrambles to meet new hypersonic threats from China and Russia.
Japan Goes Big on Missile Defense, Aircraft: China Blames Trump For Tensions
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Japan is in the middle of taking a hard look at its role providing security for the region, while it races to meet fresh threats from China and North Korea.
Navy Enters Drone Age, Taps Boeing for MQ-25
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Loaded with jet fuel, the drones will vastly extend the ranges of carrier-based aircraft operating in the expanses of the western Pacific. That lets the Navy strike deeper into China’s layered defenses while keeping the big decks out of range of most of China’s anti-ship missiles.
Mattis Supports Saudi War in Yemen, Rejects Privatizing Afghan Fight
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“The training we have given them we know has paid off,” Mattis said of the Saudis. “We have had pilots in the air who recognize the danger of a specific mission and declined to drop even when they get the authority. We have seen staff procedures that put no-fire areas around areas where there’s hospitals or schools.”
Lockheed ‘Seizes High Ground’ With Second Hypersonics Deal
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“All of the fundamental research in hypersonic aerodynamics is United States (work),” said Pentagon R&D chief Mike Griffin. “We did not choose to weaponize the results of that research. Our adversaries have chosen to weaponize it. That’s the challenge. We will respond.”
It’s Raytheon Vs. Dynetics/Lockheed For Army’s 100 kW Laser
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Lockheed is as close to an incumbent as you get in the rapidly evolving world of high-energy fiber lasers. Raytheon, by contrast, only recently made a big play for laser weapons, but they can draw on their experience with lower-powered but exquisitely tuned laser sensors.
Despite Trump’s Rhetoric, U.S. Defense Firms Pitch Moving Production To India
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As big defense firms line up to pitch their fighter planes to India, the government of Narendra Modi is demanding they build in India, something that might be at odds with the Trumpian America First philosophy.