Defense

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army’s multidomain task force might have started out as an experimental unit, but a new plan to operationalize it puts the unit front and center in competition, crisis and conflict against adversaries. The move is detailed in an Army whitepaper released March 23, in which the service acknowledges it must transform now to meet future challenges. “Although our Army…

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Navy sealed the deal on a 10th ship in its latest iteration of the Virginia-class attack submarine, issuing a $2.4 billion adjustment on a contract initially awarded in December 2019. The original contract was for nine boats with an option for a 10th, which brings the total cost of the contract with Prime Contractor General Dynamics Electric Boat to $24.1 billion…

WASHINGTON — In the future, when U.S. Air Force fighter pilots face off in aerial combat training missions, they could be dogfighting the video game version of Chinese and Russian warplanes at a fraction of the cost of using real jets like the F-22 Raptor. At least that’s the pitch the California-based company known as Red 6 is making to the service. For the past three years, Red 6 has…

WASHINGTON — The estimated development costs for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s ongoing modernization program grew by $1.9 billion since 2019, and the effort is expected to extend though 2027, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a new March 18 report. Over the course of the F-35′s Block 4 modernization program, which officially began in 2018, the Pentagon will upgrade the…