The Navy and Marine Corps are trying to buy new autonomous and unmanned systems more quickly for expeditionary ops, but as one general warned, “if I can’t sustain it, I’m hosed.”

As a boy growing up in the 1950s, I looked forward every year to the new cars and how different they would be from last year’s models. Obviously, I am not doing that in 2019, because the combination of what the frame of the car can deliver aerodynamically interacts with software and advanced materials to… Keep reading →

Adding extra firepower to the F-35 shows how loudly Lockheed hears the footsteps of Boeing’s F-15X approaching.

“F-35 aircraft performance is falling short of warfighter requirements—that is, aircraft cannot perform as many missions or fly as often as required. This lower-than-desired aircraft performance is due largely to F-35 spare parts shortages and difficulty in managing and moving parts around the world”

The US Navy now says it’ll reach 355 ships by 2034, while whacking F-35Bs and a carrier from its five-year plan. What’s the strategy?

WASHINGTON: The Navy signed a massive, $15.2 billion contract with Huntington Ingalls Industries-Newport News Shipbuilding this evening for two more Ford-class aircraft carriers, hours after a Pentagon report listed a litany of problems with the ambitious program. The contract pays for completion of in 2028 of the USS Enterprise, which began in 2017. It also… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The UK is ready to start deploying the first batch of its new F-35 fighter overseas, the country’s top defense official said Thursday, while introducing a slew of new cruise and attack missiles for its Typhoon jets.   The announcement of Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for nine F-35Bs comes weeks after the Royal Navy… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON The F-35 program office announced today the aircraft had finally reached its initial operational test & evaluation phase, which is expected to wrap up next September. That’s three months behind previous projections for mid-summer — the result of the program’s first crash (fortunately non-fatal) and a subsequent grounding — and 16 months behind the… Keep reading →

A British defense official talked up the good news about British defense spending in DC this week — including on many US-built weapons — but some dark clouds hang over the ambitious plan.

As old programs go, the Corps is looking at new cyber capabilities and getting back into the air defense game.