Boeing will provide the Air Force’s new combat search and rescue aircraft, announced Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne late Thursday. Boeing’s entrant in the CSAR-X competition is a variation of its combat-proven CH-47 Chinook helicopter. The Air Force plans to purchase 141 HH-47 aircraft to replace its fleet of HH-60 Pave Hawks. Air Combat Command, the CSAR mission owner, expects to achieve initial operational capability with its first 10 HH-47s by the end of 2012.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III rebuffed criticism that the F-35 program has proved too costly and unreliable to serve as the viable backbone of America’s and allies' future fighter fleet on April 30. “I would not categorize the F-35 as a paperweight,” Austin said in response to questioning…