The Marine Corps and Navy are moving past the insurgent wars of the past two decades and readying themselves to play a central role in countering China and Russia.

Scrapping Boeing’s Redesigned Kill Vehicle program — which was put on hold in March — will kick off a new effort to build a modernized generation of ballistic missile interceptors.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) ground forces command want an immediate replacement for the CH-53 . “It is natural that operational needs differ, but this is the task of the highest command to evaluate the needs and make a decision,” a senior Israeli defense official said.

“For now, we remain in source selection” for the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent contract despite Boeing’s withdrawal, says a spokesperson for Air Force acquisition chief Will Roper.

There was more bad news for Boeing today, even after the company announced it lost $5 billion due to civilian airliner crashes. This time, the hit came on the defense side of the house.

  UPDATED WASHINGTON: US commercial satellite sales to AsiaSat, and the company’s leasing of communications bandwidth to China, are not threats to US national security, say experts — contrary to charges by Republican Senators Charles Grassley and Joni Ernst. Instead, US export control law very deliberately has been crafted to encourage such sales in a… Keep reading →

The Army is also testing the last, which can smack into drones from hundreds of meters away.

Dan Schultz, Sikorsky president, calls the CH-53K heavy-lift helicopter an “optimally piloted” aircraft that allows ease of flying even in hellish weather conditions.

Critics have argued the tiltrotor aircraft could never be as nimble at low speed and low altitude as a helicopter. Bell says it’s proven them wrong.

F-35 Program Executive Officer Vice Adm. Mat Winter today told the HASC tactical air and land subcommittee that Lockheed was guilty of just that, adding that this had helped lead to a shortage of an average of 600 parts each month, causing production line slowdowns and cost increases.