CORRECTED: Removed Reference To AT-6, Which Is Not Derived From T-6  WASHINGTON: The basic training plane for Air Force pilots, the propeller-driven T-6 Texan, is returning to flight almost one month after being grounded after a series of unexplained physiological events (what we used to call suspected hypoxia incidents). As is the case with most such… Keep reading →

AFA ORLANDO: The Air Force, which relies on large vulnerable targets known as JSTARS, AWACS, Rivet Joint and other aircraft, knows it may need to shift its reliance on big, largely indefensible planes to fused networks of sensors as they are doing with JSTARS. That was the word from Gen. Mike Holmes here today when… Keep reading →

PENTAGON: It’s explicit: China is the Air Force’s “pacing threat.” That was the clearest message from Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, who met with the press the day after the Pentagon budget’s release. China’s rapid modernization is driving the Air Force to respond, Wilson said, though she declined to detail any of the service’s efforts… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson says new hires for crucial pilot and cyber slots, as well as the T-X trainer system contract award, may not survive the year if Congress passes a Continuing Resolution, as expected. Wilson told my colleagues at Defense News and Air Force Times earlier today that “the T-X contract award… Keep reading →

  The Air Force already has a big hole in its capabilities for the future: it needs what it is calling Penetrating Counter Air, a very fast, long-range, sensor-loaded and furiously lethal aircraft. But that effort is designed to fill a need in 2030. Dave Deptula, head of the Air Force Association’s Mitchell Institute and… Keep reading →

PARIS AIR SHOW: With the competition for the US Air Force’s T-X trainer system increasingly seen as a battle between Lockheed Martin and Boeing, it’s easy to overlook perhaps the most intriguing entry: DRS, the US subsidiary of European aerospace giant, Leonardo. Almost everyone who looks at the fairly raucous battle — Northrop was in,… Keep reading →

This year saw the first test of a major shift in acquisition law, pushed by Sen. John McCain, to place more power in the hands of the four armed services. When the bill was still being debated, the Pentagon’s top acquisition official, Frank Kendall, warned that McCain’s move to boost the power of the service chiefs to… Keep reading →