Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday revealed a new reason why the Pentagon wants to drop the General Electric-Rolls Royce F-136 engine from the F-35 strike fighter program: its performance. “We think that the current engine that GE is offering probably does not meet the performance standards that are required,” Gates told members of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense panel during an oversight hearing. Further, “the taxpayer would be required to pay for any enhancement that would bring it up to the performance standards.”
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.