UPDATED: Washington: Northrop Grumman knows the Defense Weather Satellite System neck is stretched out beneath the Pentagon budget cutters ax. Advocates like defense consultant Loren Thompson are rushing out to defend it. The Air Force is getting ready to kill the satellite program, which is a stepchild of the late unlamented (except by Northrop) NPOESS… Keep reading →

Boeing and Lockheed are locked in an enduring struggle over the sale of advanced fighters to the U.S. Navy and to other countries. The cost increases and schedule delays that have beset the Joint Strike Fighter program offered Boeing an appealing opening and they have leapt in. The F-18, they argue is a combat-proven aircraft… Keep reading →

Washington: The Army is giving a version of the Joint Tactical Radio System one more shot at becoming part of its new networking strategy, weeks after terminating a separate version of the next-generation radio. An airborne JTRS variant built by Lockheed Martin is set to fly next week as part of the Army’s latest Networking… Keep reading →

Capitol Hill: If the Super Committee fails to make the budget cuts required by law — something almost everyone here now believes is likely — that will be really, really bad for the U.S. military. And it will probably open the door for a burgeoning China to fill the void of what might well become… Keep reading →

Washington: The Army is keeping an open mind on all options for its Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, but rejected using an upgraded version of the Humvee. The Army is willing “to take a look” at all potential vehicle alternatives that can meet the JLTV’s cost and performance goals, Secretary John McHugh said during today’s Defense… Keep reading →

Fort Worth: Lockheed Martin’s mile-long aircraft factory here sent the the twelfth F-35 Joint Strike Fighter produced this year to Eglin Air Force Base last Wednesday. Though no cause for champagne, the delivery marks an important milestone in the company’s efforts to ramp up production. The plane took less than half as many touch-labor hours… Keep reading →

Washington: The Pentagon is digging in on the Korean peninsula and increasing its commitment throughout the rest of the Pacific. That would seem to augur well for sales of F-35s to South Korea. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta recently announced the United States’ 28,000-man garrison in South Korea would be staying indefinitely. Washington and Seoul continue… Keep reading →

Washington: The Army is aiming to corral costs across the service’s fixed-wing fleet and has tasked its new aviation program office to do just that. The service’s new Fixed Wing Program Office will be the sole office in charge of buying and modernizing aircraft in the service’s 350-plane fleet, according to a service statement released… Keep reading →

Washington: If the Super Committee or anybody else in America wants to know how important keeping faith with the troops is to Buck McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, all they need do is watch the webcast of today’s readiness hearing. They will see a fairly rare occurrence: one of the top defense… Keep reading →

Washington: Time has officially run out on the Army’s Joint Tactical Radio System. The Army will release its proposals request for a new handheld network radio to industry next month, the service’s top uniformed acquisition official Lt. Gen. Bill Phillips said. Army and Pentagon officials decided to nix the Boeing-built JTRS Ground Mobile Radio earlier… Keep reading →