The head of Strategic Command must be very happy this evening, having learned that the Air Force is finally buying a new helicopter to guard America’s ICBM fields. The Boeing-Leonardo team won the contract to supply 84 helicopters.

Of DoD’s proposed reforms, the biggest thing not included in the NDAA is the Space Development Agency, which would appear to strike a blow at the heart of DoD space acquisition: the Air Force-run Space and Missile Systems Center. SMC has long been criticized for its slow pace, bureaucratic stovepipes, and opacity, but praised for its technical brilliance.

PENTAGON: It’s explicit: China is the Air Force’s “pacing threat.” That was the clearest message from Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, who met with the press the day after the Pentagon budget’s release. China’s rapid modernization is driving the Air Force to respond, Wilson said, though she declined to detail any of the service’s efforts… Keep reading →

ABOVE DULLES AIRPORT: Eager to get out its message that the Boeing-Leonardo MH-139 helicopter would save the US taxpayer $1 billion as the replacement of the UH-1N helicopter, Boeing flew several journalists this afternoon to demonstrate its capabilities. (Boeing’s Rick Lemaster makes the case in our video above). Boeing also delivered nine boxes to the… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: The Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee thinks President Trump’s 2018 spending plan is dead on arrival and has already gone to the Budget Committee to get a much bigger defense budget. Mac Thornberry also doesn’t want defense increases offset by steep cuts to the Coast Guard or State Department, as Trump proposed. Thornberry… Keep reading →

CORRECTED: Passenger Capacity WASHINGTON: The day before the Air Force Association’s annual winter conference begins, the newest wrinkle in the years-long saga of deciding what aircraft the Air Force would buy to secure America’s nuclear missile fields was announced. Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky will offer — surprise! — an updated version of the Black Hawk helicopter, the HH-60U.… Keep reading →

CAPITOL HILL: Gen. Robin Rand, head of Air Force Global Strike Command, made it pretty clear he’d like more than the 100 B-21 bombers to which the service is currently committed. He would probably like close to half again that many. Rand told a Mitchell Institute breakfast that the US currently has 156 bombers “in our… Keep reading →

With legislators demanding open competition for new helicopters to carry security teams to far-flung missile silos in an emergency, the Air Force has bowed to congressional pressure. Sikorsky had been hopeful of a $1.4 billion sole-source deal to replace the aging UH-1N helicopters, whose poor performance in counterterrorism drills had the Air Force saying it needed to bypass… Keep reading →

CORRECTED program cost WASHINGTON: Not so fast, Air Force, a dozen legislators said as the service moved towards a $1.4 billion sole-source replacement of its aging UH-1N helicopters. The Hueys — direct descendants of the famed Vietnam-era bird — carry security teams to far-flung missile silos in an emergency, but their poor performance in counterterrorism drills has the… Keep reading →

What could justify the Air Force awarding a sole source contract for helicopters worth close to a billion – that’s a thousand millions – dollars? Pick an answer: A classified joint service military exercise called Mighty Guardian in which some of the 62 aging UH-1N Huey helicopters failed their assignment to carry security forces to… Keep reading →