Amid a revolution in air combat, the head of the U.S. Air Force said July 20 he’s “reasonably confident” America’s next-generation fighter aircraft will have a pilot, leaving the door open, however slightly, for a radical departure from a fully manned system.
Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the U.S. presidential race injects greater uncertainty into the world at a time when Western leaders are grappling with wars in Ukraine and Gaza, a more assertive China in Asia and the rise of the far right in Europe.
A key Pentagon innovation advisory panel is recommending the Defense Department establish a new undersecretary of defense to lead international collaboration across the defense industrial base. The report, which the Defense Innovation Board released July 17, claims that the Pentagon’s international defense cooperation portfolio has been “disjointed” since 2018.
The U.S. Air Force has not decided on its plan to replace much of its KC-135 fleet following its buy of KC-46As, and will soon finalize a study on a future, clean-sheet tanker—if there is funding available. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, speaking July 22 at the Farnborough International Airshow, said there’s “no final decision” on what is now called the KC-135 Recapitalization program.
“Following speculation that it may jettison its advanced next-generation fighter aircraft program, the U.S. Air Force recently reaffirmed its commitment to building the Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) program—the Air Force’s leading initiative to keep its weapon systems modernized in a manner that effectively deters adversaries, particularly the People’s Republic of China. This is welcome news,” writes retired Lt. Gen. Richard Newton, former director of the Air Staff.
GE Aerospace and Kratos Defense & Security Solutions announced a new merchant supplier partnership July 22 aiming to provide engines for, among others, the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program—even as Kratos insists it is still open to bidding as a prime for the Air Force’s second CCA round.
The three companies building a next-generation combat fighter for the U.K., Italy, and Japan have released a new concept for its design with a bigger, triangular wingspan. On the first day of the Farnborough Air Show, UK’s BAE Systems, Italy’s Leonardo, and Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries touted a new design on the show floor, with a “much more evolved design with a wingspan larger than previous concepts to improve the aerodynamics of the future combat aircraft,” BAE said in a statement.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin plan to travel to several countries in the Indo-Pacific Region amid high tensions in the Asian area. They are scheduled to meet with their counterparts from Japan and the Philippines on July 28 and 29.
On July 19, Israel’s vaunted aerial-defense system tracked 65 rockets fired across its northern border by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, intercepting some and letting the rest fall harmlessly into open areas. That same day, Israel missed a single drone it believes flew more than 1,000 miles from Yemen to explode in the commercial capital Tel Aviv.
A group commander at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida was fired from his job last week, just days before he was set to formally leave his position. Col. Jeremiah Hammill, the former commander of the 96th Test Wing’s Civil Engineer Group at Eglin, was set to pass off his command July 18 but was fired from his role on July 15 “due to a loss in confidence in his ability to lead,” according to an Air Force Material Command spokesperson.
General Atomics has revealed work for a carrier-capable fifth member of its Gambit drone family, which is based around a common modular core ‘chassis’ concept. The company has also presented a larger vision for how this new uncrewed aircraft could fit into a future air wing aboard the United Kingdom’s Queen Elizabeth class carriers.
A U.S. Navy fighter jet pilot became the first female to score an air-to-air kill while she was deployed to fight against the Houthis in the Red Sea, where the Iranian-backed group has battled American troops for more than half a year in an engagement tied to Israel’s war in Gaza. ... Maj. Gen. Jeannie Leavitt, who just retired from service last year, became the first female fighter pilot in the Air Force in 1993. The first Navy female carrier-based fighter pilot was Lt. Kara Hultgreen in 1994.
