In searching for the right aircraft to replace its fleet of HH-60 Pave Hawk combat search and rescue helicopters, the Air Force discounted platforms offering the most advanced technology in favor of one that “doesn’t hold us hostage” to technology that hasn’t matured and that would take longer to deliver, declared Sue Payton, Air Force acquisition chief. There was no intent to find “the most elegant, grand solution,” she explained to reporters at the CSAR-X award announcement. Instead, she added, the Air Force sought what would “vastly improve what we have today in the HH-60 helicopters, but we have some growth potential in the future.”
A Golden Dome task force established under U.S. Northern Command earlier this year has a broad remit, which includes fielding the capability to defend the U.S. against missile and drone attacks, its leaders said this week. Some of the primary focuses right now are ensuring Golden Dome can defend itself…