A new F-35 sustainment contract to Lockheed Martin “paves the way” toward a performance-based logistics contract that the company has been angling for since 2019 and is worth $6.6 billion if all options are exercised. But all bets are off about hitting the Air Force’s ...
F-35
Modifications Pratt & Whitney is proposing to its F135 engine can improve thrust and efficiency and would be far less costly than giving the F-35 fighter a new powerplant developed through the Adaptive Engine Transition Program, the engine maker said.
Upgrades in missile technology over the past several years have made the F-35 less survivable than previously hoped, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said Aug. 31 as he pushed for more investment in smaller, unmanned platforms. The Air Force plans to buy ...
Introducing unknowns to how adversaries understand U.S. operations can throw a wrench into adversarial decision-making.
Frank Kendall became the 26th Secretary of the Department of the Air Force on July 28, 2021. An engineer, lawyer, and West Point graduate, Kendall was the Defense Department undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics from 2012 to 2017. He spoke with Editor ...
Blue Force Technologies expects a contract in the next month authorizing it to proceed with development of a stealthy, unmanned aerial system for Air Force fifth-generation fighters to train against. The company expects to build four aircraft for a demonstration program, with first flight in ...
The Air Force won't be able to retrofit its existing fighters with new technology created in the Adaptive Engine Transition Program, the service's program executive officer for fighters and advanced aircraft reported. He and the propulsion directorate are instead partnering on squeezing more capability out ...
Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works opened a new factory at its Palmdale, Calif., location Aug. 10, where it will likely produce multiple types of secret vehicles simultaneously. The factory exploits new digital technologies and automation that offer flexibility and speed of manufacturing, especially of short-run programs. ...
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and new Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall have a history, and some parts of it look to be repeating themselves. Kendall, now in his third week leading the Department of the Air Force, oversaw DOD weapons buying as the undersecretary ...
When Frank Kendall got a call from the White House asking if he could return to the Pentagon to lead the Air Force, he did not need long to think it over. Kendall, who left public service in in 2016 after leading Defense Department acquisition ...
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Foreign Military Sales of Air Force systems are on pace to eclipse fiscal 2020 levels, the head of USAF's Security Assistance and Cooperation Directorate said Aug. 5. Transfers have centered on F-15s, F-16s, F-35s, A-29s, and MQ-9 drones. Despite a push ...
The combat search-and-rescue mission will be extremely challenging in a fight against a peer adversary, and the focus may have to shift to downed Airmen finding their own way to safety, Air Combat Command boss Gen. Mark D. Kelly said Aug. 3. The future of ...


