The NDAA funded 60 F-35As for the Air Force—12 more than the service originally requested. However, it also the Air Force to provide an aviation force structure acquisition plan by March 1 of 2020.
The Air Force on Dec. 2 awarded Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control a $988.8 million modification to a contract for critical design review of the Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW. The hypersonic AGM-183 ARRW has been undergoing initial tests at Edwards AFB, Calif. ...
The Air Force’s Space Fence finished its initial operational test and evaluation phase in November, kicking off a trial period to see if the system works well enough to accept it for regular operations. Space Fence’s first increment is neither in space nor a physical ...
The Pentagon on Nov. 26 awarded Lockheed Martin a $327.95 million contract for “long lead” material, parts, and components for Air Force F-35s in advance of the anticipated Lot 15 award. The advance acquisition contract covers components for some 48 F-35As for the Air Force, ...
The Air Force’s biggest F-35 operating base recently unveiled its new $45 million runway, bringing to a close a nine-month project that sent the base’s F-35s to other locations across the world. While construction was underway, Hill sent its F-35s to Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, ...
A recent set of experiments with laser and microwave weapons in Oklahoma is shaping how the Air Force moves forward with its plan to protect bases from drones using directed energy. Five systems participated in the Air Force portion of the Maneuver and Fires Integrated ...
New suppliers have been found for all but a dozen of the 850 parts Turkey is now making for the F-35, and most of the work is going to Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney, company and program officials told a House Armed Services panel ...
Lockheed Martin for the first time demonstrated a high-energy laser weapon’s ability to take out multiple small drones for the Air Force at the Army-hosted Maneuver and Fires Integrated Experiment last month. The Advanced Test High Energy Asset, or ATHENA system, shot down multiple fixed-wing ...
An F-35 Lightning II sits at a Vermont Air National Guard event in South Burlington, Vt., Sept. 19, 2019. Air National Guard photo by TSgt. Ryan Campbell. Lockheed Martin on Oct. 28 received an approximately $7 billion award to build...
An F-35A from the 56th Fighter Wing, performs a pass Oct. 1, 2019, at Luke AFB, Ariz. Air Force photo by A1C Leala Marquez The $34 billion contract covering production Lots 12-14 of the F-35 fighter—encompassing some 478 aircraft—should be...
A rendering portrays Lockheed Martin's GPS III satellite on orbit for the Air Force. Illustration courtesy of Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin’s first on-orbit GPS III satellite on Oct. 21 successfully connected to its upgraded operational control system, known as the...
Pentagon acquisition chief Ellen ?Lord holds a press briefing to update media on acquisition, reform, and innovation at the Pentagon, Aug. 26, 2019. DOD photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class James Lee. The Pentagon’s decision to start full-rate production of...