The Pentagon has finished modifying its F-35 jets to prevent catastrophic engine damage, and expects by June to take delivery of all the aircraft and engines delayed by a December crash. The F-35 Joint Program Office paused flight operations and the acceptance of new jets after a December crash in Fort Worth, Texas, and a subsequent investigation revealed a vibration, or “harmonic resonance,” that causes the jet’s fuel tube to fracture.
Military students remain in limbo as final Pentagon guidance for a new policy allowing cadets at America's service academies who have a child to continue their education has been past due for months. The Pentagon was supposed to make the changes to service academy policies by the end of December, a year after the Candidates Afforded Dignity, Equality and Training legislation, known as the CADET Act., introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., helped push a policy change in the National Defense Authorization Act in 2021.
A retrofit effort to return an undisclosed number of grounded Bell-Boeing V-22 Ospreys to flight is over halfway complete, the aircraft’s Joint Program Office tells Breaking Defense—and yet, the root cause of a so-called “hard clutch engagement” (HCE) issue remains elusive. “The joint V-22 team, government and industry, have made significant progress to replace input quill assemblies affected by the February flight limitations. To date, more than half of the affected aircraft have returned to flight and we expect to finish the replacements this fall, ahead of schedule,” a spokesperson for the office said.
Boeing’s effort to build a new trainer aircraft for the Air Force is plagued by safety problems, schedule and testing delays, and the risk the T-7A Red Hawk could fall even further behind schedule, the Government Accountability Office said in a scathing report. Boeing’s relationship with the Air Force has also been strained by the T-7′s issues, GAO said in the May 18 report, with service officials describing their ties as “tenuous.”
The way modern Airmen and Guardians prepare for the future fight is changing, with live, virtual, and constructive training offering new ways to practice essential skills. Learn more about how virtual and augmented reality, simulated environments, and other technologies are helping train warfighters everywhere from the cockpit to the maintenance depot.
A nascent cross-functional team within the Joint Staff is preparing a comprehensive mission analysis brief to formally propose the creation of a new, first-ever “Joint Futures” organization that could solely focus on priming the Defense Department and military services for uncertain, technology-enabled combat operations in the years beyond 2030. That team launched under Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley toward the end of last year to puzzle out complex plans and recommend the right paths forward.
A U.S. missile-warning satellite completed a major review, keeping the spacecraft on track for launch in 2028. Northrop Grumman announced May 24 that the Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) polar satellite passed its preliminary design review earlier this month. Preliminary design review “is the first milestone that demonstrates the maturity of the system to meet the mission,” Alex Fax, Northrop Grumman vice president of Next-Gen OPIR polar program, said.
“I’m both relieved and heartened that today we are watching NATO airpower undergo a transformation that is restoring allied overmatch, thanks to the F-35. The 5th-generation F-35 is a true game changer in the European theater—a phenomenon that has been remarkable to witness, particularly in the last 18 months,” writes retired Gen. Philip Breedlove, who served as NATO’s 17th Supreme Allied Commander Europe and the Air Force’s 32nd vice chief of staff.
A list of 22 weapon systems marked for transfer to Taiwan—including several missile systems and F-16 and MQ-9B aircraft—will not be delivered until 2025 at the earliest, according to the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “When I was in Taiwan, President Tsai [Ing-wen] asked me, ‘Where are my weapons?’ I didn't have a good answer,” Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas) said during the committee’s May 24 hearing on modernizing U.S. arms exports.
Retired Air Force Maj. Brian Shul, a fighter pilot who nearly died after being shot down during the Vietnam War and then, defying doctors who said his injuries would ground him forever, flew the world’s fastest jet in top-secret Cold War operations, died May 20 at a hospital in Reno, Nev. He was 75.
