[UPDATED with Navy retraction] So is the Navy buying more Super Hornets or not? A solicitation notice posted on FedBizOps.gov sparked heated media speculation this week that the service might extend production of the current F/A-18E/F Super Hornet as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program struggles. It’s true the US Navy is the least enthusiastic of… Keep reading →

Half the US forces in Afghanistan may be coming home, but K-MAX, the little unmanned helicopter, will stay until the end. A pair of the remote-controlled cargo choppers arrived in Afghanistan in late 2011 for what was billed as a short-term experiment, but the Marines liked it so much that the trial deployment was repeatedly… Keep reading →

Blimp news: Logos has $111.8 million contract with Navy’s NAVAIR for 22 Kestrel surveillance systems for Afghanistan – http://bit.ly/PRzPpN SydneyFreedberg

PENTAGON: The Defense Department named new chiefs today for the Naval Air Systems Command, responsible for all naval aircraft acquisitions, and for the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, better known as Naval Reactors (NR), an obscure but powerful organization shard between the Energy Department and the Navy. Vice Admiral John Richardson, currently the commander of the… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The military can’t buy enough unmanned aerial systems to suit imagery-hungry combat commanders. Procurement programs are harder than ever to start in these days of ever-tightening defense budgets. And using a 20th Century defense acquisition system to buy 21st Century technologies often means getting too little too late too expensively anyway. What to do?… Keep reading →

F-35 performs weapons tests – pit drops. Data "looks good.” John Fahnestock, top weapons engineer said in NAVAIR story.  colinclarkaol

The Marine Corps is taking the use of unmanned air systems to the next level, deploying pilotless cargo helicopters to Afghanistan to test their ability to supply troops in the field without trucks facing the risk of deadly IEDs. The six-month demonstration of the feasibility of a cargo UAS in a combat environment will involve… Keep reading →

For the first time, the Navy and Northrop Grumman have demonstrated the ability to make an unmanned aircraft make carrier landings and take-offs today, using an F-18 rigged to fly the same way. It is part of the Navy’s effort to develop a stealthy and unmanned aircraft –UCAS-D, also known as the X-47B — able… Keep reading →