US Joint Forces Command has just concluded the first phase of Urban Resolve 2015—a three-phase experiment designed to simulate an urban battlespace in the year 2015. Air Force Col. Terry Kono with JFCOM says that the two-week first phase provided an opportunity to “really make the federation of models and [simulations] work. … It’s a focused environment, refined for the experiment.” The “environment” finds a US-led coalition confronting an adversary equipped with modern capabilities and operating in an urban setting. Phase 1 centered on exploiting human-intelligence collection methods and intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance assets. Phase 2 runs in mid-September, followed by Phase 3 in late October.
The F-35 Joint Program Office has officially announced plans to issue multiple sole-source contracts to Pratt & Whitney to upgrade the fighter’s F135 engine—a widely expected move after Pentagon officials indicated they would do so earlier this year instead of developing an entirely new engine.