WASHINGTON: Perhaps the most damning thing a director of Operational Test and Evaluation can say about a weapon is that it is not “operationally suitable.” Here’s what the new DOTE, Robert Behler, says about the F-35 Joint Strike fighter in his office’s latest annual report: The operational suitability of the F-35 fleet remains below requirements and… Keep reading →

AFA HQ: We finally learned why the Air Force has been backing away from a new JSTARS: it probably wouldn’t be much use in a real shooting war. That’s the verdict, stated in less unforgiving terms by the head of Air Combat Command, Gen. Mike Holmes, here in a speech. “The question is, how will… 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 →

WASHINGTON: Space Corps. It sounds cool. You get visions of space marines and pilots saving the universe. In their latest blast against the Air Force, though, Reps. Mike Rogers and Jim Cooper are more, well, down to earth. They argue that the failings of big-ticket programs such as OCX and FAB-T offer ammunition that a Space… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Admitting there’s a “raucous debate” in the US military about whether humans should allow robots to decide when to pull the trigger, the nation’s Nr. 2 uniformed officer told the Senate today that he doesn’t “think it’s reasonable to put robots in charge of whether we take a human life.” Gen. Paul Selva, the… Keep reading →

COLORADO SPRINGS: OCX, for the last two years the most troubled space acquisition program and a watchword for the high risks of being the first program to try and meet the Pentagon’s highest cyber security standards, may now open the way for Raytheon to plow its way deep into the rich fields of the cyber security market.… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: Soon after President Donald Trump took the oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution,” the White House posted two documents declaring they would boost the size of the Navy and Air Force, increase our offensive and defensive cyber capabilities and end sequestration. In the first document, Making Our Military Strong Again, the Trump Administration… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The British have released their Strategic Defense Review, declaring they will plug the gaping hole in their anti-submarine warfare capabilities by buying nine P-8s from Boeing and showing considerable confidence in Lockheed Martin’s F-35 as they pledge to buy more earlier. The “National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review” also restated its commitment to… Keep reading →

ROSSLYN, Va.: Air Combat Command’s intelligence director has her head in a cloud – the Combat Cloud — and she wants the defense industry and academia to join her there. Maj. Gen. VeraLinn “Dash” Jamieson, ACC’s intelligence director, wants industry and academia to help the Air Force figure out how to integrate the data that flows… Keep reading →

PENTAGON: It poses one of the thorniest problems for the United States national security establishment: how to get the nation’s spy agencies, especially the secretive National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and the military to work together when someone attacks US spy and military satellites. To offer some clarity on the way ahead for this relationship, Deputy Defense Secretary… Keep reading →