Derek Tournear, director of the Space Development Agency, has made it his mission to spearhead innovation and change in the Pentagon’s approach to space acquisition. In a recent LinkedIn post, he doubled down on that commitment to "constructive disruption"—and pushed back on what he said ...
Rapid Acquisition & Sustainment
The Pentagon needs a new acquisition system—parallel to the one that takes years to develop new physical platforms like airplanes and ships—to achieve the speed needed to achieve deterrence, Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet said this week.
The Air Force has provided new details of flight testing the AGM-181 Long Range Standoff nuclear cruise missile, along with details of its financial progress.
China’s defense industrial base moves faster than that of the U.S. at deciding to produce new weapons and making them in large numbers, Pentagon acquisition and sustainment chief William LaPlante said. It also places more “bets” on alternative paths to new technologies and doesn’t have ...
A sleek, futuristic, six-rotor aircraft stood behind a red ribbon at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on Sept. 25—marking the latest milestone in the Air Force’s involvement in the “electric air taxi.” The electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft from Joby Aviation was unveiled at ...
The Department of the Defense and the military services want to take more control over the massive F-35 sustainment enterprise—and are required by law to do so in 2027—but they lack a detailed plan to do so and should reassess their approach to key parts ...
Speed is surpassing cost and performance as the top priority in Air Force acquisition, and the upcoming Air Force reorganization will put high focus on it, service acquisition chief Andrew Hunter told reporters at AFA's Air, Space and Cyber conference.
The Air Force wants to keep the competition for its Collaborative Combat Aircraft program open for as long as possible but will eventually choose a contractor to integrate the air vehicle, autonomy, and mission systems of the $5.8 billion program.
The Pentagon plans to field thousands of drones in the sea, in the air, and possibly on land to counter the large size of China’s military under its new Replicator Initiative. And the Department of Defense’s No. 2 official insists the DOD needs no new ...