Lawmakers weighed in on three of the Air Force’s top-priority technology development efforts in the final draft of the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill, offering more money and more oversight as the programs mature. The Low-Cost Attritable Aircraft Technology initiative, hypersonic weapons, and the Next-Generation ...
ARRW
New Pentagon acquisition rules are making it possible to field the AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) hypersonic missile five years faster than would be possible under the old rules, top USAF uniformed acquisition official Lt. Gen. Duke Z. Richardson said Dec. 3. He also ...
The structural fatigue test of the B-1B bomber, which began in 2012 and was initially expected to take five years, will wrap up in 2021, an Air Force Materiel Command spokesman told Air Force Magazine. The test will stress the B-1 to 28,000 hours on ...
The Air Force is moving forward with a new Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile as one of its top two hypersonic weapons programs, Weapons Program Executive Officer Brig. Gen. Heath Collins said in a recent interview. The service has discussed similar efforts underway in its hypersonic ...
The bomber fleet is turning in exceptional readiness and performance since it turned away from the continuous bomber presence and close air support mission, Air Force Global Strike Command chief Gen. Timothy M. Ray reported. In its new dynamic force employment role, the bomber is ...
The recent ABMS experiment demonstrated great value in artificial intelligence, Air Combat Command boss Gen. Mark D. Kelly said in a September 14 press conference at AFA's virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference. The value it offers is in potentially bringing more information into decision-making ...
The Air Force may be thinking about the AGM-183 hypersonic missile as a transitional type until more advanced systems arrive, the head of 8th Air Force said in an AFA Mitchell Institute live streaming event Aug. 31. Maj. Gen. Mark E. Weatherington also said he ...
The Air Force is pursuing a speedy program for a new air-breathing hypersonic missile, equipped with a modular payload bay that apparently will be used for something other than submunitions, according to a service solicitation. USAF solicited Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon for the work, ...
The AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW), the Air Force’s first hypersonic weapon, completed its last captive-carry test flight on a B-52 on Aug. 8. During the test, which was conducted off the coast of Southern California, the AGM-183A Instrumented Measurement Vehicle-2 transmitted telemetry and ...
USAF is slowly unveiling its plans for a new bomber force.
The Air Force plans a high/low mix of rocket-boosted and air-breathing hypersonic missiles to give adversaries a troublesome and expensive defense problem, service acquisition executive Will Roper said May 14. While the ARRW missile is on track for operational service at the end of fiscal ...
The Air Force is spearheading development of the Defense Department’s first hypersonic cruise missile. The service on April 27 reached out to industry to seek input on a “solid rocket-boosted, air-breathing, hypersonic, conventional cruise missile” that can be launched from existing fighters and bombers. Air ...
