The F-35’s troubled sustainment enterprise is getting better but is still falling short of the services’ goals for the program, officials told Congress. And lawmakers are running out of patience. “The message for me—and I hope from my committee, and I know I'm going to ...
Congress
A contract award for U.S. Special Operations Command’s Armed Overwatch program is likely coming before the end of the summer, the head of Air Force Special Operations Command told Congress. Lt. Gen. James C. “Jim” Slife also countered opposition to the platform, saying it will ...
The Air Force plans to divest nearly 650 aircraft over the coming five years while purchasing fewer than 250, reducing its fleet by exactly 400 tails, a pair of congressmen said during House Armed Services Committee hearings April 27. Those cuts would include a much-reduced ...
The manned fighter aircraft that will form the centerpiece of the Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance program will cost hundreds of millions of dollars per plane, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told members of Congress on April 27—but the service can reduce costs in ...
Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks urged Congress to be more patient with the Defense Department as it develops new systems, like hypersonic missiles. The Pentagon sees “real resistance … on Capitol Hill” to that approach, “and so you get curtailment of programs, … concerns over ...
The Air Force slashed the F-35 buy in its 2023 budget request to just 33 jets—15 fewer than it bought in 2022 and 27 fewer than 2021, saying it preferred to spend that money on other needed modernization programs and wait until the Block 4 ...
The Air Force may be planning to divest more than 1,400 airplanes over the next five years, with a net reduction of more than 1,000 after new ones are added in, a Nebraska Senator said in a budget hearing April 7. The Air Force would ...
With many lawmakers already pushing to increase the top line of the Pentagon’s fiscal 2023 budget, top defense officials acknowledged April 5 that their budget request was based off inflation rates that were “incorrect.” At the same time, they argued, the $773 billion request would ...
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reignited talks about more permanent U.S. bases and troops in Europe, especially in the eastern portion of the continent where allies and partners are clamoring for it to counter Russia’s influence. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark ...