JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii—Some Airmen consider the Marine Corps' landing strip on the southeast side of Oahu island in Hawaii to be the most difficult to land on in the world. Surrounded on both sides by water and protected by a mountain range, the 7,800-foot runway is near a population center. Small islands rise from the waters of Kaneohe Bay. It’s also perfect for practicing the Air Force's concept of agile combat employment (ACE), which requires Airmen to practice landing in austere Pacific island locations as though they were in a contested environment.

Raytheon Technologies Corp.’s Pratt & Whitney military engines unit received a $4.385 billion Naval Air Systems Command contract for 178 of its F135 engines to power all variants of the F-35 fighter. The eventual contract value could be as much as $8 billion. The contract is a not-to-exceed, undefinitized modification to the Lots 15 and 16 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter production.

The House Appropriations defense subcommittee rolled out its draft version of the fiscal 2023 defense funding bill, cutting the Air Force’s planned buy of F-15EX fighters and moving to block any changes to the current system of “pass-through” funding. All told, the top line for the budget is $761.7 billion for the entire Department of Defense, an increase of some $32 billion over the fiscal 2022 enacted total and in line with the Pentagon’s 2023 request. However, that sum is likely to be challenged by lawmakers who feel the increase isn’t enough to keep pace with historically high inflation. The panel meets for a closed markup session June 15.

The U.S. shouldn’t count on economic sanctions to cripple Russia’s defense industrial base or to prevent Russia from replacing military equipment lost or expended in Ukraine, according to a panel of experts. Despite a shrinking economy—Russia’s gross domestic could contract as much as 10 percent—they deemed its abilities to finance the war and its military "pretty robust” during the discussion hosted by the Center for a New American Security.

More than a dozen satellites and the Navy unit that operated them transferred into the Space Force when as the Naval Satellite Operations Center became the 10th Space Operations Squadron. The switch marks the first of several space-focused units transferring from the Army and Navy over to the Space Force.