The Air Force isn’t well-structured to carry out the National Defense Strategy, and in order to deter a major war, it must add more and stealthier aircraft, expand its use of unmanned systems, accelerate the development of new technology, and learn to operate from more ...
F-35
A recent Air Force demonstration to share data between USAF and Navy fighter jets, Army munitions, a Navy destroyer, and more proved largely successful, paving the way for a bigger test in April. Air Force acquisition boss Will Roper and Advanced Battle Management System architect ...
The F-35’s problematic Autonomic Information Logistics System, or ALIS, will be replaced by a new system starting later this year, which it is hoped will be more user-friendly, more secure, and less prone to error. It’s also to be re-branded as ODIN, for Operational Data ...
Turkey will be mostly out of the F-35 by March, and all the way out by the end of 2020, Pentagon acquisition and sustainment chief Ellen Lord said Jan. 14. Lord said there’s been no discussion with Ankara about the disposition of four F-35s owned ...
The State Department on Jan. 9 approved the possible sale of 12 F-35Bs to Singapore at a cost of about $2.75 billion. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the possible sale, which is subject to approval on Capitol Hill. The sale would include ...
The Air Force’s F-35 operating base on Jan. 6 conducted a massive elephant walk, launching 52 jets in a row. The Active Duty 388th and Reserve 419th Fighter Wings conducted the Combat Power Exercise to demonstrate “their ability to employ a large force of F-35As." ...
Lockheed Martin closed out 2019 with two more F-35 contracts totaling over $2 billion, as it finished delivering its 134th jet of the year. The bulk of the funding comes in a $1.927 billion contract for recurring logistics services for delivered F-35s for the Air ...
Maintainers from Hill AFB, Utah, recently traveled to Japan for an F-35 maintenance symposium designed to increase interoperability at every level. Eight airmen from the 388th Maintenance Group worked with a Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-35 maintenance squadron, first discussing lessons learned and then working ...
The Air Force has kicked off its exercise and development of joint, all domain command and control and is expecting the initiative to start in earnest with $185 million in funding. The service recently trained for the first time with its new Advanced Battle Management ...
The Senate on Dec. 17 approved the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act by a vote of 86-8, sending the bill to the White House where President Donald Trump is expected to sign it into law. Also on Dec. 17, the House approved a $1.4 ...
Lawmakers on Dec. 16 struck a deal for a $1.4 trillion bipartisan, bicameral spending plan to fund the government through fiscal 2020, including $695.1 billion for the Defense Department.
The draft 2020 defense policy bill prohibits the Air Force from transferring any low-rate initial production F-35 strike fighters to the adversary air role until the Chief of Staff submits a report to Congress detailing the service’s plan for modernizing its organic aggressor fleet. “It ...