While in Washington the Joint Strike Fighter appears to be on the Quadrennial Defense Review cutting-room floor, members of the JSF integrated test force at Edwards AFB, Calif., are working hard to develop a means for the F-35 to withstand deadly chemical and biological assaults it may encounter in a future war. Testers are using a retired F-16 as a JSF stand-in during a series of three biological trials—involving a harmless spore with similarities to anthrax injected into the engine to contaminate environmental controls—and four simulated chemical agent trials. The JSF is the first fighter to have a requirement to survive chem-bio attack.
In written testimony to the Senate, the nominee to oversee the Air Force’s installations and energy enterprise endorsed the continued privatization of military housing and called for the department to think more during the acquisition process about how it will power new weapons systems when the logistics supply chain is…
