Defense

WASHINGTON ― Congress intends to give the Pentagon a carveout in a short-term funding bill that will allow the Navy to begin construction on a new ballistic missile submarine. Without that exemption, service leaders have expressed concern that congressional budget dysfunction could otherwise push the program behind schedule and create a nuclear deterrence gap in the years ahead. The Senate’s…

WASHINGTON — The Air Force’s project to add electric air taxis to its fleet took a big step forward Monday, as Joby Aviation delivered the first such vehicle to Edwards Air Force Base in California for real-world testing. AFWERX, the Air Force’s innovation cell, launched its Agility Prime effort in 2020 to work with industry to develop electric vertical takeoff-and-landing aircraft. Until…

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army selected McQ, Textron Systems, General Dynamics Land Systems and Oshkosh Defense to build light robotic combat vehicle prototypes for a total of nearly $25 million, the service said Sept. 20. The companies have until August 2024 to build the prototypes and deliver them to the Army for testing and evaluation with soldiers. This marks the first phase of a competition…

Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker pilots are inching closer to normal operations after incremental software fixes to the tanker’s glitchy autopilot have led the service to ease flight restrictions on the jets. Airmen are now allowed to fly KC-135s with the Block 45 software upgrade — which includes the autopilot in question — at altitudes below 10,000 feet, Air Mobility Command boss Gen. Mike…