The Space Force has awarded Northrop Grumman a $200 million contract to build a cutting-edge space radar in the United Kingdom, part of a joint venture between the U.S., U.K., and Australia to monitor 22,000 miles above the Earth around the clock.
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman has wrapped up initial flight tests with its EMRIS multi-function sensor system, which could be applied to "crewed or uncrewed" platforms, the company said. The tests were flown on an unidentified government aircraft and demonstrated rapid software reconfiguration in-flight.
Leaders seem to be hedging, with senior service leaders indicating concern over NGAD’s costs and raising questions about the future of U.S. air dominance.
WORLD: Sentinel: Costs Jump 81% after Pentagon Review.
The B-2 bomber fleet is now using an open mission systems architecture that will accelerate the speed with which it can be equipped with new weapons and cuts software update time from years to weeks.
WORLD: Modernization: Goal of 100 B-21s; 100 CCAs by 2030; and Anduril and General Atomics win CCA contracts.
The Air Force should quickly and comprehensively adopt digital methods to regain the speed of fielding new gear necessary to match the "blistering" pace of China's modernization, a new Mitchell Institute paper recommends.
The Air Force is condemning the B-2 bomber that crashed at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., in December 2022, saying the aircraft isn't economically repairable. It has not decided what will become of the wreck.
Northrop Grumman received a $7 billion indefinite-delivery/indefinite quantity Air Force contract for improvements and maintenance on the B-2 bomber, covering these activities at five USAF bases through 2029. Budget documents show no more procurement or research and development on the B-2 is planned after that ...
While none of the major aircraft contractors were selected to develop the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, all three say they are seeking further autonomous aircraft work for the Navy, foreign partners, or in the classified arena, and maybe future versions of the CCA itself.
William LaPlante said there’s been “significant improvement” in the program over the last decade, and program leaders can now “focus on the future of the F-35, instead of the past.”
The Air Force says it is unaware of quality issues with work done by Spirit AeroSystems on the B-21 bomber. Spirit is under investigation by the NTSB for its work on Boeing 737 MAX airliners which may have contributed to a January in-flight accident.
