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 →

  CORRECTED: What Gen. Harris Meant To Say Was A Total Bomber Fleet of 165; Still “At Least” 100 B-21s WASHINGTON: How many B-21 bombers will the US need? 80? 100? 165? Bound by the president’s budget on one side and congressional appropriations on the other, the head of Air Force acquisition was very careful in… Keep reading →

Canada-based Bombardier joined the Lockheed-Raytheon team to build a replacement for the aging JSTARS (Joint Surveillance Targeting and Attack Radar System) aircraft during the Paris Air Show. Northrop Grumman, announced the week before that it would team with General Dynamics, Gulfstream, and L-3. Boeing is going big, with a 737. The Air Force recently announced the first JSTARS contracts, and… Keep reading →

UPDATED: Raytheon’s Yuse Pledges To Meet Or Beat JSTARS Radar KPPs PARIS AIR SHOW: Canada-based Bombardier is joining the Lockheed-Raytheon team to build a replacement for the aging JSTARS (Joint Surveillance Targeting and Attack Radar System) aircraft, Lockheed Martin announced today. The incumbent, Northrop Grumman, announced last week that it would team with General Dynamics, Gulfstream, and… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: While Northrop Grumman isn’t doing much at the upcoming Farnborough Air Show — at least publicly — they certainly shook things up today with their announcement that they are swapping places with BAE Systems to take the lead role in the competition for the $11 billion, 350-plane T-X trainer program. While the BAE-Northrop team… Keep reading →

The proposed sale of bankrupt Hawker Beechcraft to a Chinese company will create no security problems for the US military, pledged Hawker chairman Bill Boisture in an exclusive interview with Breaking Defense. If the potential $1.8 billion sale to Superior Aviation Beijing actually goes through — and at least one well-regarded industry observer, Richard Aboulafia,… Keep reading →