Washington: The Pentagon’s top intelligence official has ordered the Air Force to set up a new intelligence unit to analyze the behavior of foreign-based commercial aircraft and integrate intelligence from the combatant commanders as the planes move through American airspace. Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Mike Vickers has tasked Air Force Secretary Michael Donley to… Keep reading →

The U.S. military faces a readiness crisis. A recent Congressional hearing generated headlines about the Navy’s surface fleet falling into disrepair. But that was news four years ago. Across all the services, long-standing readiness problems are worsening; breakdowns are happening more frequently. Several years ago, an Air Force F-15C literally broke in half during flight.… Keep reading →

So how many aircraft does it take to move the world’s largest military force? Not as many as many as you would think, the Pentagon says. In what has at times seemed like a long-running bad joke, filled with terms like ‘floors’, ‘ceilings’ and ‘sweet spots’, the Pentagon has finally capped its strategic airlift requirement… Keep reading →

Paris: In another clear signal that the heat is on Lockheed Martin to substantially bring down the costs of the biggest acquisition program in US history, the Nr. 2 man in the program told reporters here that costs have to keep going down. “Much of that will play out” in the nascent negotiations on the… Keep reading →

Space Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to lift off from Earth on July 8 and is the final space shuttle mission, ending a very successful program which has brought so much pride to the United States for more than three decades. Similar to when the Apollo program ended in 1975, this final flight is truly a… Keep reading →

Washington: This year’s Paris Air Show, the year’s largest gathering of the defense and aerospace businesses, will focus on unmanned systems such as the now-famous Predator since that is one of the few growth areas for the defense sector. The show itself, which starts Monday, promises to be, simply, huge. Some statistics: more than 2,100… Keep reading →

F-35 AF-1 and AF-2 Ferry Flight to Edwards AFB showing 2 F-35s in flight and aerial refueling Depending on what figures you use, the United States is either going to spend as much as $1 trillion — with a T — on the F-35 program over its life or something closer to $379 billion to… Keep reading →