UPDATED: Lockheed Martin Comments On F-35 Testing Finishing Year 15 % Ahead of Schedule PENTAGON: If you want some idea of just how closely the Pentagon’s test and evaluation folks are watching Lockheed Martin’s F-35, just open the newly released annual report and thumb through the 12-plus pages of densely packed information about the aircraft.… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship is now in the irregular warfare business, the top service official in charge of the program said today. Naval Sea Systems Command is developing a new LCS mission package focusing on irregular warfare operations. Those capabilities will fall more toward the humanitarian and disaster relief-types of missions under the… Keep reading →

WASHINGTON: The Navy has long touted the Littoral Combat Ship’s multimission abilities to support U.S. forces. But the next-generation warship will also be key role in supporting America’s allies across the globe. The Navy is pursuing an “aggressive fielding” strategy to get the LCS into the fleet, Rear Adm. Thomas Rowden, director of the service’s… Keep reading →

Washington: The Navy’s newest warship now has a new missile system to go with it. The Navy will deploy the Raytheon-built Griffin missile system on board its growing fleet of Littoral Combat Ships, Rear Adm. James Murdoch, program executive officer for LCS, said today. An unmodified version of the short-range, surface-to-air missile will be installed… Keep reading →

Washington: Things are only going to get worse for the Defense Department and industry, as the White House increasingly looks to military spending as a way to cut the nation’s debt. For more news and information on the swiftly-changing defense industry, please sign up for the Breaking Defense newsletter. You can also catch us on… Keep reading →

UPDATED Washington: The list of jobs being piled onto the Navy’s newest do-it-all ship might get a little bit longer in the near future. The Marine Corps and U.S. Special Operations Command have held informal talks with the Navy about the possibility of developing new mission module packages for the Littoral Combat Ship, to support… Keep reading →

Washington: Sen. John McCain, son of an admiral and a legendary naval aviator in his own right, dispensed a little tough love today to the Navy on its management of its current and future fleet. The Arizona Republican blasted away at Navy’s less-than-stellar record in shipbuilding during today’s confirmation hearing for presumptive Chief of Naval… Keep reading →

Washington: The Navy, like the rest of the services and the Pentagon, is adamant that all options are on the table when it comes to trimming the service’s bottom line. But from aircraft carriers to overall force structure cuts, details on those options coming from the Navy have been sparse. And in recent weeks, it… Keep reading →

Washington: Last week was a tough one for backers of the Navy’s aircraft carriers. During last Tuesday’s hearing of the House Armed Services readiness subcommittee, Chairman Randy Forbes (R-VA) asked point blank whether or not the sea service was looking to kill off parts of its carrier fleet. The official response from the heads of… Keep reading →

Secretary Gates put the Marine F-35B V/STOVL version of the Lightning II on probation; it was a headline grabbing rhetorical trick. Gates pulled a similar ploy with the F-22 when announcing that the decision was based on a cost study within DoD. Unfortunately, the study never was done and does not exist. Unfortunately for our… Keep reading →