The Air Force has embraced new technical approaches like open mission systems and rapid software updates for cutting-edge aircraft like the B-21 and Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Increasingly, though, the service is also working to apply these to its older, “legacy” aircraft, officials said this week.
Software Modernization
The Space Force awarded Lockheed Martin a $105 million contract to continue supporting its interim GPS ground system as the Pentagon considers the future of a broader, long-delayed modernization effort.
The Pentagon’s top weapons tester noted progress on key munitions for the Air Force in his latest report, covering everything from dogfighting missiles to hypersonics.
Anduril Industries flew its YFQ-44A Collaborative Combat Aircraft with two different mission software systems during the same flight Feb. 24, an Air Force official revealed at AFA’s Warfare Symposium.
A B-52 equipped with the new Stratofortress radar flew Dec. 8, a key first step in modernizing the Cold War bomber.
Built by L3Harris, the Advanced Tracking and Launch Analysis System, or ATLAS, provides foundational analysis and data processing capabilities to allow the service to transition away from its 1970s-era C2 architecture.
The competing House and Senate versions of the 2026 defense policy bill advancing through each chamber both contains provisions aimed at expanding or speeding up efforts to get new software and technology into the hands of warfighters.
The first Trump administration moved to relieve the Space Force of its burden to monitor and warn civilian space operators about potential space traffic hazards. But now, just as the Commerce Department’s new Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS) program is nearly ready, the second ...
The Army has blocked the Air Force generative AI chatbot, NIPRGPT, from its networks, citing cybersecurity and data governance and highlighting the challenges the U.S. military faces in assessing risk when adopting cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence.