WASHINGTON — Boeing expects to start delivering the Air Force’s first field-ready MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopters later this year.
In a Friday release, Boeing said it finished construction on the first low-rate initial production Grey Wolf in late December. That helicopter also started its flight testing at Italian aerospace firm Leonardo’s facility in Philadelphia, the company said.
Boeing…
Mideast waters challenge unmanned vessels, says US Navy leader
January 30, 2024
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Operational and environmental challenges in Middle Eastern waters are hindering the pace of innovation around unmanned surface vessels, according to the chief of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command.
“You bring things out, they look good on…
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. — The hangar was relatively empty. Not even the Lockheed Martin C-5, some 250 feet long and 65 feet high, filled the space outright.
No maintainers milled about, no drills whirred and no hammers clanged. But the steady hum of spinning blades…
US approves sale of F-16 jets to Turkey, F-35s to Greece
January 30, 2024
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has approved the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey following the Turkish government’s ratification this week of Sweden’s membership in NATO. The move is a significant development in the expansion of the alliance, which has taken on additional importance since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The State Department notified Congress of its approval of the…
Upgraded F-35 deliveries slipping to fall 2024, Lockheed says
January 24, 2024
WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin’s production of the latest upgraded F-35 Joint Strike Fighters is slipping further behind schedule, and deliveries likely will not resume until the third quarter of 2024, the company said Tuesday.
Lockheed CEO Jim Taiclet told investors in an…
WASHINGTON — The B-21 Raider stealth bomber is carrying out test flights at Edwards Air Force Base in California, the U.S. Air Force has confirmed.
The B-21 flew on Wednesday, Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said in an email. It was not the first time the Northrop…
Lockheed to test Patriot and Aegis integration in live-fire test
January 19, 2024
WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin will test this spring whether it can successfully integrate the U.S. Army’s latest and most capable variant of the Patriot missile with the U.S. Navy’s Aegis Combat System.
By the end of the year, Lockheed will have spent roughly $100 million on the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (PAC-3 MSE) integration effort so far, according to Tom…
What the Navy is learning from its fight in the Red Sea
January 19, 2024
Thirteen years ago, the current head of the Navy’s surface fleet was captaining the destroyer Carney.
Even in 2010, airborne drones were a threat for which his ship had tactics and munitions at the ready, Vice Adm. Brendan McLane, now the head of Naval Surface Forces, told…
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s outdated weapons-buying processes are hampering its ability to integrate innovative technology and work with nimble start-up companies. A panel of defense experts wants to change that.
The Commission on Defense Innovation Adoption, established…
US Navy’s four unmanned ships return from Pacific deployment
January 17, 2024
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Navy completed its first deployment of four unmanned ships, which spent five months in the Pacific testing concepts for how to integrate their capabilities into crewed fleet operations.
The unmanned surface vessels — Sea Hunter, Sea Hawk, Mariner and Ranger — departed Southern California on Aug. 7 and returned Jan. 15. The Sea Hunter and Sea Hawk originate from a…
