Going into the you’ve-got-to-be-kidding category is the name for DARPA’s new global reach air vehicle program—it’s Walrus. But the news is that DARPA last week issued contracts to two companies for this venture into a heavier-than-air vehicle designed to transport troops and cargo. They are Lockheed Martin and Aeros Aeronautical Systems. Their task, in this first phase of Walrus, is to develop systems studies and a “notional concept of the objective vehicle.” Bottom line: This is not supposed to be your grandfather’s airship. The effort must, says DARPA, “establish clear and credible solutions that provide confidence that earlier airship-era limitations will be overcome.” On to the hard data: It must carry more than 500 tons 12,000 nautical miles in less than seven days at a competitive cost.
A new Navy missile could fill a range gap that the U.S. Air Force needs for its 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…