Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne told lawmakers last week that the Pentagon’s arguments for not sustaining a second engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter “revolve around economics” and models that “do not contemplate this fighter being in service for 50 years.” Wynne reiterated his preference—established when he was in DOD acquisition, technology, and logistics—for an alternate engine. He confessed that he doesn’t know how long the F-35 will be in service, but then who could have forecast that the F-15 and F-16 would serve for 50 years. His final comment before the Senate Appropriations defense panel: “There is something to additional reliability.”
‘Angry Kitten’ EW Pod Tested on Search-and-Rescue HC-130
April 17, 2026
The Air Force recently tested its “Angry Kitten” electronic warfare pod on an HC-130J during Exercise Bamboo Shield, showing the pod can turn the rescue platform into a command-and-control node and protect it from enemy radars.The tests follow what could be the pod’s first use in combat after it was…