PARIS — Kelly Magsamen, who has served as chief of staff to U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin his entire tenure, will step down at the end of June.
Austin announced the change in a statement, crediting her for “every initiative I have launched to defend our nation,” which includes work in the three areas of the world that now consume the Pentagon’s attention: the Indo-Pacific region…
A proposed defense spending bill the House of Representatives released Tuesday would fund eight more F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in fiscal 2025 than the military originally planned.
The Pentagon’s budget request earlier this year included money to buy 68 F-35s — 42 F-35As…
The Defense Department has selected four companies to develop prototypes of a modular drone that can be used to test payloads, sensors and other technology, and be produced at high rates at an affordable cost.
Anduril Industries, Integrated Solutions for Systems Inc., Leidos…
The Defense Innovation Unit selected The Spaceport Company to demonstrate the ability to use a sea-based launch platform to quickly send cargo or satellites to orbit.
The company, headquartered in Woodbridge, Virginia, builds floating launch pads that could allow commercial companies or the Defense Department to fly payloads offshore. The concept is particularly relevant amid unprecedented launch…
The Air Force awarded Boeing a contract worth nearly $7.5 billion to build more kits to convert bombs into guided weapons known as Joint Direct Attack Munitions.
The company will provide JDAM tail kits and other supplies under the sole-source fixed-price, indefinite…
The U.S. Army approved the characteristics it wants in a Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System after awarding contracts to two teams competing to build the drone.
The service approved an Abbreviated Capabilities Development Document, or A-CDD, on May 17, setting up the…
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Lockheed Martin’s delay in rolling out the F-35 fighter’s Technology Refresh 3 upgrade package appears to have no immediate effect on customers in the Asia-Pacific region, but governments are monitoring their acquisition timelines closely.
The American firm paused F-35 deliveries pending acceptance of the TR-3 software suite, which comprises a mission system…
The military would dedicate more Lockheed Martin-made F-35 Joint Strike Fighters to testing new technologies and capabilities under the House’s proposed fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act.
An amendment proposed by Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., and adopted by a voice…
PEARL HARBOR – A U.S. Army Light Support Vessel can transport 24 Abrams tanks at once, even at sea for nearly a month without needing a port visit, and one recently deployed to Gaza to help build the floating pier designed to provide humanitarian aid to civilians in the…
For F-35, Congress must heed history
May 23, 2024
History serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of neglecting air superiority, a mistake America must not repeat with the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter as it did with the F-22 Raptor.
In 2009, the F-22 program was abruptly cancelled after the production of only 187 aircraft — a quarter of the originally planned 750 fighters. This short-sighted decision left the U.S. Air Force with a…