Semantics: According to DOD Buzz report, an unidentified Congressional aide calls the recent F135 engine ground-test mishap “significant.” The same report quotes engine-maker Pratt & Whitney that it has a fix in hand for a suspect “worn bushing” that will have “little or no impact on cost or schedule.” That means: The war of words continues in the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter engine saga. Continue
The Air Force awarded a $13.08 billion contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation on April 26 for its Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, the successor to the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane. Like the E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, the SAOC will be meant to withstand a nuclear attack and keep…