Thanks to reconciliation, the fiscal 2026 Air Force budget would get a surge of munitions procurement, but it's not yet clear if the production increase will be sustained. The Air Force revealed the secret AIM-260 air-to-air missile's funding for the first time.
After years of serving as the bill-payer for other Pentagon priorities, munitions stockpiles are poised to get a major boost from the $150 billion reconciliation package unveiled by lawmakers in Congress this week, along with the defense industrial base to...
The AIM-120 AMRAAM will likely be the complement to the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile, a Raytheon executive said. He characterized the JATM as an expensive, "kick-down-the-door" weapon, while he argued that AMRAAM is the more affordable missile to be used in larger quantities.
A B-2 bomber successfully released a long-range cruise missile during a weapons test in December 2021, contractor Northrop Grumman revealed, potentially giving the stealth bomber the ability to strike even deeper into contested areas. The baseline version of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile has a ...
The Defense Department faces a future of high-price, sole-source contracts, reduced innovation, and possible critical shortages if it doesn’t take steps to increase competition and the number of suppliers in the defense industrial base, according to a new Pentagon report. But changing the conditions creating ...
Munitions needed in a near-peer competition, especially with China, may call for longer ranges, and aircraft may need to be able to carry more of them. Defense industry executives made these projections among others in a panel discussion Sept. 20 at AFA’s Air, Space & ...
The State Department has approved the potential sale of a dozen F-16 jets, plus AGM-84 Harpoon missiles and AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles, to the Philippines, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced June 24. All told, the sales would total up to nearly $2.9 billion, with the ...
The Air Force's Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent program has passed its preliminary design review, clearing the way for an award of the engineering and manufacturing development contract by the end of September. If all goes as planned, the new intercontinental ballistic missiles will be deployed to ...
The Air Force is seeking industry input on a new class of air-to-air missiles, which would be faster and longer-ranged than the AIM-120 and AIM-9X that currently equip its fighter fleet. It's not clear, though, how the new weapons would join a portfolio where there ...
Once the Raytheon AGM-181 Long-Range Standoff missile is operational, Lockheed Martin may play a role in upgrading its sensors or contributing other expertise even though the company was passed over to build the weapon, the Air Force said. The decision to focus on Raytheon for ...
The Air Force expects to lose confidence in the full viability of its 400 intercontinental ballistic missiles starting in 2026, three years before replacement nuclear missiles start entering the ground, according to a new Government Accountability Office report.“ According to Air Force officials, as a ...
Boeing is developing a long-range version of its Joint Direct Attack Munition called the Power JDAM, adding an engine to extend its range by 20 times over the conventional glide version of the weapon, company officials said.