British defense officials are more optimistic now than they were immediately following last week’s Senate Armed Services hearings into the Joint Strike Fighter’s alternate engine program, reports Reuters news service. Subsequent to the hearings, a British embassy spokesman told the wire service, talks over touchy technology transfer issues progressed satisfactorily. Spokesman Steve Atkins said, “We are more optimistic that we can find a way through.”
Air Force Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost—a trailblazer and one of the first 10 women to reach a four-star rank across the U.S. military—retired and passed control of U.S. Transportation Command to Air Force Gen. Randall Reed on Oct. 4, finishing an eventful tenure at TRANSCOM.