The Senate Armed Services Committee has rejected cuts to the
Air National Guard proposed by the Air Force as it unanimously approved a
$631.4 billion fiscal year 2013 defense authorization bill this week.405 words
A critical design review on the Joint Strike Fighter's two
developmental helmets scheduled for this fall should demonstrate corrective
action already taken on one lingering display issue and lay out the path for
addressing night vision acuity and image latency challenges on the F-35's
helmet, according to Lockheed Martin program executives.962 words
The Air Force is pursuing several initiatives to improve
sensors on aircraft that work with the service's Joint Surveillance Target
Attack Radar System, one of which could provide a critical need to
International Security Assistance Force operations in Afghanistan within the
next four months.868 words
House Appropriations Committee members have taken a more
aggressive approach to rein in the costs of the Air Force's Joint Strike
Fighter program in fiscal year 2013 than their counterparts on the House Armed
Services Committee, according to a comparison of the two panels' bills.821 words
The Air Force is one step
closer to launching its fourth Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS)
geosynchronous satellite. This week Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor for
SBIRS GEO-4, received the core structure for the satellite and will now
integrate the propulsion subsystem with the core structure. In a May 24 company
statement, Lockheed touted the delivery as a major milestone which indicates that
the program has learned from the production speed bumps it hit while building
the GEO-1 and GEO-2 satellites. SBIRS GEO-4 is on schedule to be available for
launch in 2015.93 words
The Air Force’s reserve component wants the service to change the method it uses for allocating military construction dollars from percentage-based to needs-driven and is seeking the assistance of Congress to achieve that goal, according to its senior official.
658 words
The two military services responsible for the Defense
Department's nuclear arsenal plan to jointly develop life-extension programs
for their intercontinental and submarine-launched ballistic missile warheads,
according to a senior Air Force official.514 words
An Air Force plan to restructure one of the service's leading
financial planning systems has been delayed by at least three months, further
limiting the Expeditionary Combat Support System's potential usefulness ahead
of a Defense Department-mandated 2014 auditing deadline.368 words
The Air Force's efforts to cut personnel costs, in part by
encouraging some airmen to retire early, could have a disproportionate impact
on small career fields like those involving the B-2's low-observable materials.
That said, the service's recent emphasis on the nuclear enterprise should make
a lack of experience in those fields a minor issue.565 words
Air
Force senior leaders have been meeting with Alaska's lawmakers following the
House of Representatives' passage of its defense authorization bill, which
includes legislation that would prevent the military from using a loophole to
close bases without congressional approval.765 words
The Air Force is in the process of testing the effects and
compatibility of high-power microwave weapons with aircraft sensors, according
to the chief of the service's high power microwave division.488 words
The Air Force should move away from the use of the Combat Air
Patrol measurement and reconsider which servicemembers qualify to operate
unmanned systems are two of several recommendations included in a House of
Representatives report evaluating the way the Defense Department conducts its
intelligence-gathering mission.558 words
A NATO agreement to purchase five Global Hawk unmanned
aircraft will cost the alliance $1.7 billion, with about $210 million falling
on the Air Force's shoulders in fiscal year 2013.545 words
The Air Force is slated to begin an operational assessment of
its general ledger program next week, two weeks later than planned to
accommodate a scheduled update of the system's processor and security software,
according to a service spokeswoman.529 words
The Air Force is meeting with industry representatives this
week to discuss how to modernize the Pentagon's inventory of nuclear-armed,
bomber-launched cruise missiles, with the discussions expected to inform a
decision on which weapon will replace the aging AGM-86B Air-Launched Cruise
Missile.503 words
The military services have agreed on a common set of
requirements for ground-based, sense-and-avoid systems for unmanned aircraft
and will conduct related tests next month, according to military officials.1053 words
Counterfeit parts create national security risks and endanger
the lives of military personnel, and the Pentagon fails to fully comprehend the
scope and impact of these parts on its critical defense systems, according to a
Senate Armed Services Committee report released this week.676 words
The drawdown facing the Defense Department in the next decade
will likely total $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion, exceeding the Budget Control
Act's sequestration scenario, according to a new report that criticizes the
Pentagon's failure to plan for the cuts as a high-stakes gamble.691 words
F-35 prime contractor Lockheed Martin is planning to expand
its software development capacity this year in order to accelerate progress on
the mission systems portion of the Joint Strike Fighter software package.719 words
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