DefenseNews

Air Force creates task forces to pilot modern deployments

September 13, 2023
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The Air Force in fiscal 2024 will experiment with further changes to how it deploys airmen, service leaders announced at the Air and Space Force Association’s annual Air, Space and Cyber Conference here this week. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said Monday the service is creating three “air task forces,” or packages of airmen that the Air Force can offer to…
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DefenseNews

US Air Force prioritizing cloud-based command and control

September 12, 2023
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The U.S. Air Force is prioritizing the delivery of cloud-based command-and-control networks to forces across the globe, and is preparing to follow through even under federal spending that falls short of a full budget. The so-called CBC2 effort is…
DefenseNews

BAE Systems Hägglunds purchases Iron Fist for CV90s

September 12, 2023
JERUSALEM — Elbit Systems will supply the Swedish BAE Systems Hägglunds with its Iron Fist Active Protection System for CV90s in a deal worth $109 million, the Israeli firm announced Tuesday. Elbit noted the systems are intended for a European country, but declined to…
DefenseNews

Lockheed touts local links in Black Hawk-based helicopter pitch to UK

September 12, 2023
LONDON — Lockheed Martin’s U.K. subsidiary unveiled a local industry team, capped by aircraft assembly lead StandardAero, to support its Black Hawk-based bid for the British military’s New Medium Helicopter program. The roster of local companies is meant to put a British face on a U.S. military product, with the head of Lockheed Martin UK, Paul Livingston, saying the aim is to have 40% of…
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DefenseNews

BAE Systems, QinetiQ sign pact on drone collaboration

September 12, 2023
LONDON — BAE Systems and QinetiQ are exploring the possibility of joining forces in the development of uncrewed systems, the two British companies announced Sept. 12. The companies said they have signed a framework agreement looking at the potential to collaborate in the…
DefenseNews

Boeing to deliver first T-7 to US Air Force, outlines testing plans

September 12, 2023
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Boeing plans to deliver the U.S. Air Force’s first T-7A Red Hawk on Tuesday, marking a major milestone for the trainer aircraft that has struggled with safety issues, software problems and schedule slips. In a briefing at the Air and Space Forces Association’s Air, Space and Cyber conference in National Harbor, Maryland, Col. Kirt Cassell, who leads the service’s…
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Poland to buy 486 HIMARS launchers from Lockheed Martin

September 11, 2023
WARSAW, Poland — Polish Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak on Monday approved a framework deal to buy 486 launcher-loader module kits for its M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems. “In line with the adopted schedule, deliveries are expected to begin in 2025,”…
DefenseNews

Here are metrics used to measure US Air Force networking success

September 11, 2023
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — As the U.S. Air Force develops its next generation of command and control, it is using two measures of success: how quickly forces can be tasked and coordinated in a fight; and how tolerant digital systems are of new technologies and applications. To ensure the U.S. military outwits, outmaneuvers and outshoots a powerful adversary such as China or Russia, the Pentagon has…
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