The Engine That Would Not Go Quietly: General Electric and Rolls Royce continue to push to reverse the Pentagon plan to cancel the alternate F-35 Joint Strike Fighter engine. They and critics who fear downsizing to a single engine producer poses too much risk are working Capitol Hill. The political newspaper, The Hill, reports that a number of lawmakers plan “to grill” Pentagon officials over the decision. And, the list of Senators who have expressed concern now includes Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), powerful chairman of the Armed Services Committee.
A new Navy missile could fill a long-range air-to-air need for the U.S. Air Force’s fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-generation fighters. The Navy’s portfolio acquisition executive for munitions posted information on the AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile online on Aug. 22, the same day it unveiled the project at the service’s…