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 ...
Rapid Acquisition & Sustainment
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 ...
The Space Development Agency successfully launched 13 small satellites into orbit Sept. 2, more than doubling the size of “Tranche 0” of its planned constellation in low-Earth orbit. And while it only took three years from contract award to launch for this latest batch—breakneck speed by ...
The F-15EX shot one JASSM during a recent exercise, bringing to a close the first phase of its hybrid/combined initial operational and developmental test effort. New aircraft are to be delivered in the coming weeks, and a full-rate production decision is expected soon after.
A collection of quotes on airpower, spacepower, and national security issues.