WASHINGTON — More than three years after the COVID pandemic began to upend supply chains around the world, some defense executives say they are starting to see signs of recovery. But supply delays and shortfalls are still posing serious challenges to some major programs.
The lockdowns and other tumult prompted by the worldwide spread of COVID in early 2020 disrupted the flow of materials, parts…
WASHINGTON — Boeing’s T-7A jet trainer aircraft is not expected to reach initial operational capability until spring 2027, three years later than originally planned, the Air Force said.
The Air Force’s next jet trainer has struggled with problems such as a potentially…
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The U.S. Army is predicting a nearly two-year delay getting its next-generation engine into UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters, the first aircraft in the fleet to receive the capability.
GE Aerospace’s T901 engine will replace the 1970s-era T700 in…
Lockheed wins $4.8B guided rockets contract
April 29, 2023
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Army on Thursday awarded Lockheed Martin a $4.8 billion deal for Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, which the U.S. has sent in large numbers to Ukraine.
The U.S. has been providing GMLRS, along with the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System launchers used to fire them, to Ukraine since last summer to help it fend off Russia’s invasion. (The Pentagon has not disclosed…
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army is shaking up its approach to a long-range electronic warfare, signals intelligence and cyber system, after considering how fights across many different environments may play out.
The Terrestrial Layer System-Echelons Above Brigade, or TLS-EAB…
Boeing’s tanker losses top $7 billion
April 27, 2023
WASHINGTON — Boeing reported a $245 million charge on the KC-46A Pegasus tanker in the first quarter of 2023, due to a supplier’s quality issues.
The penalty means the KC-46 has now racked up more than $7 billion in charges, and follow a $1.2 billion hit the company took…
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Boeing hopes Congress will fund more CH-47F Block II Chinook helicopters for the Army in the fiscal 2024 budget — against the service’s wishes — in order to keep the company’s production line busy. But the service’s acquisition chief said in a recent hearing that Germany’s plan to buy the aircraft should be enough to support Boeing and avoid the Army having to buy…
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — An Army analysis of alternatives for the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft is not expected to significantly change the program, according to the service’s acquisition chief.
Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., chairman of the House Armed Services Tactical Air…
Air superiority involves protecting friendly forces from aerial attack, while concurrently empowering offensive power projection by suppressing enemy defenses. The former is key to not losing a war. The latter is what brings victory. Joint combat power is not viable without…
WASHINGTON — The Navy’s chief technology officer said that if the Pentagon had already implemented its “zero-trust” approach to protecting its information networks, it may have more quickly detected a recent, high-profile classified document leak.
The discovery this month that a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard with a top secret security clearance had posted…
