The Marine Corps has so far trained 100 leathernecks as MQ-9 pilots as it seeks to fill out new squadrons with the uncrewed system to extend reach and reconnaissance for its own drone program.
The Corps first leased the MQ-9 Reaper in 2018 and only received funding to purchase the drones in 2020, the same year the service created the Reaper military occupational specialty of 7318.
In the 2022…
Army numbers smallest since WWII — what units face cuts in 2024?
December 29, 2023
The new year will likely prove to be one of significant force structure changes for the Army, according to its senior leaders.
Although the service has maintained for years that embracing multidomain operations will require it to “transform” its force structure into one…
MIAMI — A defense contractor at the center of one of the biggest bribery scandals in U.S. military history is expected to face additional charges following his return to the United States from Venezuela as part of a broader prisoner swap between the two countries, a…
Beyond the Osprey: DARPA wants high-speed vertical takeoff X-plane
December 28, 2023
WASHINGTON — The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is working with four companies to design an experimental vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft that can fly at speeds far faster than the V-22 Osprey.
The collaboration comes as the U.S. military considers how it might operate aircraft in areas that lack traditional runways.
DARPA calls its program SPRINT, for Speed and Runway…
Navy creates program office to manage nuclear carrier defuelings
November 30, 2023
ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy has established a new program office to plan and manage aircraft carrier inactivations, defuelings and dismantlements, as the service readies for that work to become more common.
The Navy still hasn’t fully completed the first…
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army picked two of the world’s largest defense contractors to develop spying and jamming payloads for drones that can be catapulted from a moving vehicle or larger aircraft.
The service’s Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic…
Air Force awards Boeing $2.3B contract for 15 more KC-46s
November 29, 2023
WASHINGTON — The Air Force has awarded Boeing a $2.3 billion contract for 15 more KC-46A Pegasus refueling tankers.
The award, announced by the Pentagon Tuesday evening, brings to 153 the number of KC-46s Boeing has on contract to build for the United States and allies. The Air Force plans to buy 179 KC-46s, and Boeing said it has so far delivered 76 of those.
The Japanese Air Self-Defense Force…
Northrop exit from UK satellite bid recasts big-ticket Skynet 6 race
November 29, 2023
LONDON — Defense contractors have been given until March next year to submit bids to provide the U.K. military with a new generation of wideband communication satellites as part of the Ministry of Defence’s Skynet 6 program.
Procurement officials for Skynet 6 released an…
Pratt to start receiving F-35 engine upgrade contracts in early 2024
November 29, 2023
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon expects to start issuing early next year the first in a series of sole-source contracts to Pratt & Whitney to upgrade the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s engines.
In a notice posted online Monday, the government said the follow-on contract…
Early Ford carrier maintenance costs lower than planned, Navy says
November 29, 2023
ARLINGTON, Va. — The first-in-class aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford may cost less over its life than planned because of reduced maintenance costs, a program manager said today at an American Society of Naval Engineers conference here.
Capt. Brian Metcalf said the new Ford carrier was designed with automation that allows for a smaller crew as well as improvements to the hull that will allow the…
