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.
Will Roper
The House Armed Services Committee's top Democrat endorsed a new Pentagon legislative proposal designed to work around Congressional gridlock to field new technologies faster. Spearheaded by Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, the DOD is seeking a "rapid response" authority that would allow initial work to ...
At least 20 new airplane programs—including a handful that are variants—are in some stage of planning or development. If sustained, this airplane-building campaign will lower the average age of the fleet, increase its size, and enhance its ability to be upgraded rapidly.
Former Air Force acquisition czar Will Roper, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen, and Silicon Valley billionaire Reid Hoffman were among the seven new members of the Defense Innovation Board introduced Oct. 17, as the influential civilian advisory board held ...
Air Force acquisition chief Andrew Hunter sees the need for faster design and development cycles for the service—they just likely won’t happen as quickly as his predecessor pushed for. As part of a panel discussion at Farnborough International Airshow, Hunter laid out his view of ...
The crewed, central airplane in the Next Generation Air Dominance system won’t follow early timetables that called for new versions to be fielded about every five years because it’s simply too complex, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall revealed. And while the program has entered formal ...
The Next-Generation Air Dominance family of systems remains highly classified. But some details are beginning to emerge.
A member of President Joe Biden’s transition team who was recently a fellow at a defense policy think tank swore in Feb. 7 as the new assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology, and logistics. Andrew Hunter will lead the Air Force’s research, ...
Chronically high operating costs might be tamed with a new deal. A new sustainment contract between the F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) and Lockheed Martin, inked in September, will give the company a chance to bring down operating costs over the next three years.
As the Air Force and the rest of the Department of Defense look to modernize and compete in a rapidly changing world, they need to attract top talent in a new array of fields, from programmers to data scientists to quantum researchers. In order to ...
The Air Force’s MQ-9 Reapers helped change the way we fight. They're not done yet.
Using new digital methods to design a future Air Force fighter costs more than the traditional approach, but subsequent iterations could be done faster and less expensively, senior Air Force officials said Sept. 22. They also cautioned that the “Digital Century Series” is not synonymous ...
