Daily Report

July 12, 2016

The FB-21?

Farnborough, UK The Air Force is “looking at” employing the B-21 stealth bomber as a missileer, shooting volleys of air-to-air missiles at targets designated by F-22s and F-35s, Air Combat Command chief Gen. Hawk Carlisle told Air Force Magazine Monday....

NEXTAAM

Farnborough, UK The Air Force urgently needs an all-new class of air-to-air missiles, Air Combat Command chief Gen. Hawk Carlisle said Monday. To accomplish the air superiority mission that was supposed to have been handled by twice as many F-22s...

Engine Up the F-35

Farnborough, UK—Pratt & Whitney’s F135 engine improvement program, along with the Air Force’s new Advanced Engine Technology Program, could produce up to 25 percent better fuel efficiency—hence much better range—for the F-35, Pratt’s Bennett Croswell, president of Pratt military engines,...

Join the V-22 Club

Farnborough, UK Boeing officials said they are talking with European partners about a group-bought/group-shared fleet of V-22 tiltrotors. The idea would follow the lines of the C-17 Heavy Airlift Wing, based at Papa AB, Hungary, where 12 nations share three...

AFRL Contracts for Disposable Strike RPA

The Air Force has awarded a $40.8 million cost-sharing contract to Composite Engineering Inc., (CEI) for research and development of a disposable unmanned remotely piloted vehicle. The government’s share is $7.3 million and CEI’s share is $33.5 million. The Sacramento,...

Whole Lotta Prototyping Going On

Farnborough, UK The Air Force is rapidly prototyping a number of hardware solutions to get the F-22 and F-35 to talk with each other and the rest of the combat air forces and still stay stealthy, Air Combat Command chief...

Bergeson Assumes Command of 7th AF

The Seventh Air Force received its new commander Friday. Lt. Gen. Thomas Bergeson assumed command from Lt. Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy, who will receive a fourth star and command Pacific Air Forces, during a ceremony presided over by Army Gen. Vincent...

STRATCOM Tracks Another North Korean Launch

US Strategic Command tracked what it assessed to be a North Korean submarine missile launch Friday night. The launch of the presumed KN-11 ballistic missile occurred off the coast of Sinpo, North Korea, at 9:28 p.m. Central Daylight Time, and...

A Failure to Calibrate

A failure to correctly calibrate a ground control station led to an MQ-9A Reaper crash in the US Central Command area of responsibility in November 2015, Air Combat Command investigators found. During an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance mission, the remotely...

US Sending 560 More Troops to Iraq

The Pentagon is sending 560 more troops to Iraq to build on momentum against ISIS in the country and prepare for the assault on Mosul. Iraqi forces over the weekend captured a strategic airfield near the town of Qayyarah, a...

Protecting Baghdad From ISIS Bombs

Defense Secretary Ash Carter, during a visit to Iraq on July 11, promised new support to the Iraqi government to help counter ISIS attacks on civilians. Carter directed the Defense Department’s Joint Improvised-Threat Defeat Agency, which was formed in 2006...

Growlers Wrap Up Philippines Deployment

The second detachment to the Philippines wrapped up its deployment after 15 days of training missions and patrols of the South China Sea. The detachment of Navy EA-18G Growlers from the Electronic Attack Squadron 138 spent 15 days at Clark...

FAA Certifies General Atomics’ Predator C

The FAA has issued General Atomics Aeronautical Systems jet-powered Predator C an experimental certificate (EC), allowing the remotely piloted aircraft to conduct routine operations in the US National Airspace System, the company announced July 11. With avionics derived from the...

Airmen Install Air Traffic Control Radar in Djibouti

The strategically important and heavily used multi-service US base in the Horn of Africa now has a safer air traffic control situation thanks to a Containerized Airport Surveillance Radar installed recently by a team of airmen from two commands. Eight...

Lockheed Offers Stock Exchange in IT Spinoff

Lockheed Martin on Monday outlined its plan to separate its IT and technical services business into a separate company with Leidos by offering Lockheed stockholders the ability to exchange their shares for Leidos stock. The offer states that Lockheed stockholders...