Defense

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…

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…

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…

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army’s new missile defense radar defeated a cruise missile in a development test, RTX’s Raytheon said. The company is the developer of the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor, or LTAMDS, that will replace the service’s original Patriot air and missile defense radar with the capability to defeat ballistic missiles and other complex threats from all directions…