The Israeli military ordered residents to evacuate part of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 22 and bombarded the area, killing scores of people and wounding hundreds, local health officials reported, adding to the misery of a city already deeply scarred by nine and a half months of war.
In the early stages of what was then called the Long-Range Strike Bomber (LRSB), there was uncertainty about the program’s funding and timing. The Pentagon needed to understand how much it would actually cost and how it would be used operationally before committing to producing what would become the B-21 Raider. Now, that process is playing out again with the U.S. Air Force’s and U.S. Navy’s next-generation fighter programs, says Bill LaPlante, the Pentagon’s undersecretary of defense for acquisition.
Seeking to move away from its reliance on hauling equipment back stateside for repairs, the Pentagon is working with allies and partners to better sustain capability forward in operational theaters, beginning with the Indo-Pacific region. Being able to fix gear close to the fight is considered critical to any future conflict with China, according to officials.
Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall says questions about the future of a new sixth-generation stealth combat jet under development as part of the Next-Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative are being prompted, in part, by larger “affordability problems.” This includes the nearly doubling of the estimated cost of the LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program, which is now pegged at just shy of $141 billion.
The Defense Department will soon kick off a new “challenge” related to its Global Information Dominance Experiments (GIDE) as officials look to bring additional vendors into the mix, according to the officer overseeing the initiative.
“Talk to me, Goose—about our robot wingmen,” Maverick might say, if he were flying the F-15EX fighter jet, and if Boeing can sync up with the Air Force’s plans for collaborative combat aircraft. “As these missions become more and more complicated, going into the future, there’s probably a play to have some sort of role in the backseat, I think there’s a role in manned-unmanned teaming, loyal wingman-type stuff, where the mission gets very, very complicated,” Boeing test pilot Matt “Phat” Giese told reporters.
Airbus has formally launched a second generation A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) program based around less fuel consumption and greater range. The new effort, dubbed MRTT+ and working off the A330-800neo commercial airliner, revolves around the integration of the Rolls Royce Trent 7000 engine, improved wingtip design, nacelle and pylon alterations—all taken together to deliver eight percent less fuel consumption for extended range.
A deluge of defense spending across the West amid the war in Ukraine and other conflicts around the globe has spurred defense giant RTX to accelerate production for multiple systems, according to company executives.
The United States on July 23 invited the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) rebel group to cease-fire talks hosted by Saudi Arabia and Switzerland as Washington aims to end the suffering in one of the most deadly wars in the world.
Congress, which in a fit of emotion nearly a decade ago terminated the U.S. military's main dirigible project that looked deep over the horizon to detect cruise missiles, is once again interested in the potential of airships and aerostats to help defend against not only cruise missiles but also ballistic and hypersonic threats as well as drones.
The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris are set to be the most comprehensively covered Olympic Games ever. Three hours of Olympic competition will dominate NBC’s primetime schedule, capping off nine hours of coverage across all NBCUniversal networks during the day. Peacock, NBC’s streaming service, will stream nearly every moment, including all 39 sports and 329 medal events, and will feature full event replays. This unprecedented coverage is good news for service members, retirees, family members and honorably discharged veterans, and anyone authorized to shop at the AAFES Exchange online for one simple reason: They’ll be able to watch all of it for free.
