The Air Force and Boeing completed on-orbit checkout and validation of the sixth Global Positioning System IIF navigation satellite, announced the company on Wednesday. The Air Force and its industry partners launched this satellite into space in May. With this testing done, Boeing has reached the halfway mark in delivering GPS IIF satellites to the Air Force, states the company’s June 25 release. “We have built all 12 GPS IIF satellites using our advanced production processes, with the spacecraft ready to launch on request by the Air Force,” said Craig Cooning, the company’s vice president for space and intelligence systems. “We’re also continuing to work with the Air Force to improve the efficiency of our final checkouts before launch and on orbit, ensuring each GPS IIF enters operation smoothly and quickly,” he said. The next GPS IIF is scheduled for launch into orbit later this year, states the release.?
Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd III met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines to discuss bolstering defense ties on May 2. The discussion included plans for joint F-35 exercises with Japan and Australia in the coming years.