WASHINGTON — The Air Force has approved the Boeing KC-46 tanker to move into limited operations with its centerline drogue system, allowing the aircraft to be tasked for everyday refueling missions that meet certain criteria.
Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost, the head of Air Mobility Command, signed off on the decision July 9, the Air Force said in a news release on Monday.
“The last six months…
Poland could purchase M1 Abrams tanks from US
July 10, 2021
WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s Defence Ministry is reportedly preparing to buy about 250 M1 Abrams tanks from the United States, two months after it announced plans to buy 24 Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones.
Two sources close to the deal told Polish news site Gazeta.pl that…
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkey’s state-controlled missile-maker Roketsan has developed a supersonic, anti-radiation missile for the TF-X, the country’s indigenous fighter jet in the making.
The missile, dubbed Akbaba (or “vulture” in English), was included in the…
How two F-16s from the US Air Force’s ‘boneyard’ will find a second life as digital models
July 10, 2021
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force wants to make a digital twin of the F-16, hoping to cut down the time and money it takes to sustain its most prolific fighter.
Over the next four years, the Air Force will pluck two F-16s from the boneyard, disassemble them, and use “digital engineering” to create an exact digital replica of the airframe and many of its major subsystems. The twin will allow…
The Navy delivered two very different messages to Congress over the past several weeks, and America’s national security depends on whether lawmakers are smart enough to listen to the right one.
On paper, the Navy signaled that it’s time to get ready for a smaller…
In this Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011 file photo, al-Shabab fighters march with their weapons during military exercises on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia. (AP Photo/Mohamed Sheikh Nor, File)
An Army Green Beret was instrumental in retaking a key al-Shabab stronghold during…
WASHINGTON — Under current estimates, the U.S. Air Force will reach a tipping point where projected F-35 sustainment costs become too expensive, forcing the service to either cut its planned buy of the Lockheed Martin-made jet or drastically reduce flying hours, the Government Accountability Office found in a new report.
As the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps’ F-35 operations reach their…
WASHINGTON — Raytheon Technologies will get up to $2 billion to develop the U.S. Air Force’s Long Range Standoff Weapon system, a new nuclear-capable, air-launched cruise missile that will be carried by B-52 and B-21 bombers.
The service on July 1 awarded Raytheon a…
WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has emerged victorious in Switzerland’s $6.5 billion fighter competition, beating out entrants from Eurofighter, Dassault and Boeing.
Over the course of the program, Switzerland plans to spend up to 6 billion…
WASHINGTON ― House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith on Tuesday criticized Lockheed Martin and other contractors over the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and its exorbitant lifecycle costs.
“There’s no question that everyone involved ― certainly Lockheed Martin ― could be doing a better job on getting sustainment costs down,” Smith, D-Wash., told the Defense Writer’s Group.
