Lockheed Martin has withdrawn its LMXT aerial refueler from the Air Force’s KC-135 fleet recapitalization program—previously referred to as the “bridge tanker” effort—the company said Oct. 23. However, its partner Airbus said it will press on, offering its Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) version of the ...
Rapid Acquisition & Sustainment
The Space Development Agency has awarded a contract for 62 more satellites for its massive planned constellation in low-Earth orbit, an agency spokesperson confirmed Oct. 20. York Space Systems has been tapped to produce the satellites for the Alpha segment of the Tranche 2 Transport Layer. ...
Testing Collaborative Combat Aircraft—the unmanned, autonomous aircraft that will fly alongside crewed fighters with the goal of beefing up the future Air Force fleet—will require an unprecedented integration of effort from engineers and operators, leaders of the service’s test enterprise said in a recent interview ...
A month after revealing plans for prototype “Integrated Mission Deltas” to put operations and sustainment under one roof, Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman announced the creation of corresponding acquisition units called “System Deltas.” The new organizations are part of Saltzman’s push to align ...
Derek Tournear, director of the Space Development Agency, has made it his mission to spearhead innovation and change in the Pentagon’s approach to space acquisition. In a recent LinkedIn post, he doubled down on that commitment to "constructive disruption"—and pushed back on what he said ...
The Pentagon needs a new acquisition system—parallel to the one that takes years to develop new physical platforms like airplanes and ships—to achieve the speed needed to achieve deterrence, Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet said this week.
The Air Force has provided new details of flight testing the AGM-181 Long Range Standoff nuclear cruise missile, along with details of its financial progress.
China’s defense industrial base moves faster than that of the U.S. at deciding to produce new weapons and making them in large numbers, Pentagon acquisition and sustainment chief William LaPlante said. It also places more “bets” on alternative paths to new technologies and doesn’t have ...
A sleek, futuristic, six-rotor aircraft stood behind a red ribbon at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Sept. 25—marking the latest milestone in the Air Force’s involvement in the “electric air taxi.” The electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft from Joby Aviation was unveiled at ...