Daily Report

March 18, 2015

KC-46 First Flight Faces Potential Delay

The KC-46 tanker program is “clicking well” as it enters its flight test program this year, the Air Force’s program manager told an industry conference in Washington, D.C., March 17, but “a lot of discovery can occur” when a program...

Not the F-22 Replacement Squad

The Pentagon’s Air Superiority 2030 Study isn’t meant to lead directly to a plan for replacing the F-22, Air Force acquisition executive William LaPlante said Tuesday. Speaking at a McAleese Associates/Credit Suisse symposium in Washington, D.C., LaPlante said the study—formally,...

Cut the Crap, Congress

Sequester, which will resume in September if Congress doesn’t act to repeal it, will send a grave message to allies and would-be partners around the world, Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work said Tuesday. It would “give our allies reason to...

Something’s Got to Give

A return to sequester-level funding will “place American lives at greater risk, both at home and abroad,” said Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James during a House Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday. “Under sequestration, the Air Force cannot guarantee that...

EW Council

Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work yesterday announced he’s creating an electronic warfare programs council, to be co-chaired by Pentagon acquisition, technology, and logistics chief Frank Kendall and Adm. Sandy Winnefeld, vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Speaking at a McAleese Associates/Credit...

No EW Executive Agent

The Pentagon is standing up a new electronic warfare council, but the need for harmonization of service efforts in EW doesn’t mean that any one branch will be made EW executive agent, said acquisition, technology, and logistics chief Frank Kendall...

Senior Leader Movements

President Obama has tapped Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson, commander of Air Force Global Strike, to serve as the deputy commander of US Strategic Command at Offutt AFB, Neb. If confirmed by the Senate, he will replace Lt. Gen. James Kowalski,...

Volley and Serve

The first round of any future combat with a near-peer competitor is going to be an exchange of precision-guided munitions, and winning that contest is going to be “the first aspect” of the so-called Third Offset Strategy, Deputy Defense Secretary...

Air Force Veteran Charged with Aiding ISIS

A federal grand jury in New York City charged Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, a former USAF avionics instrument system specialist, with attempting to provide material support to ISIS, according to a March 17 Department of Justice release. “Born and raised...

C-130 Airspace Compliance Guard’s Top Priority

Making certain legacy C-130Hs are upgraded to comply with navigation and safety requirements to operate in US and international airspace beyond 2020 is “absolutely priority one” for the Air National Guard, ANG director Lt. Gen. Stanley Clarke said. “There are...

Air Guard Prepping for F-16 AESA

The Air National Guard is “ready to go” on upgrading its Aerospace Control Alert F-16 fleet with new active electronically scanned array radars and enhancements to improve homeland defense, ANG boss Lt. Gen. Stanley Clarke said on Tuesday. “The upgrades...