All Department of Defense articles – Page 2
-
NewsPentagon withholds some F-35 payments until full ‘TR-3’ capability certified
The Pentagon’s F-35 Joint Program Office will withhold $5 million per aircraft on deliveries until manufacturer Lockheed Martin completes full-combat flight certification on the latest configuration of the stealth fighter, known as Technical Refresh 3.
-
NewsGE Aerospace to overhaul, upgrade engines on new USAF 'Doomsday' jets
GE Aerospace will overhaul and upgrade the GEnx-2B engines that power the Boeing 747-8I aircraft that will be converted into the US Air Force’s Survivable Airborne Operations Center (SAOC).
-
NewsLockheed resumes delivery of new F-35s after year-long pause
After a nearly year-long pause, the Pentagon has begun accepting new F-35 fighters from Lockheed Martin, despite ongoing issues certificating the latest technical configuration of the stealth aircraft.
-
NewsP&W completes preliminary design review for F135 upgrade
Pratt & Whitney has completed the preliminary design review under the F135 Engine Core Upgrade (ECU) initiative, setting the stage for improved performance and durability.
-
NewsPentagon to resume new F-35 deliveries while awaiting full flight certification
The Pentagon will begin accepting new F-35 fighters for the first time in nearly a year, despite manufacturer Lockheed not yet completing flight certification for a new package of hardware and software for the advanced stealth jet.
-
NewsNorthrop completes Pentagon’s XRQ-73 experimental flying wing
Northrop Grumman has built the experimental XRQ-73 hybrid-electric flying-wing that it has been developing under a secretive US military project.
-
NewsBoeing to maintain Spirit AeroSystems’ defence contracts
The troubled aerostructures manufacturer has become an important supplier of several key US defence programmes, including the air force’s new stealth bomber and the army’s next-generation tiltrotor.
-
In depthBoeing bets big on next-generation fighter manufacturing facility
The US airframer has begun construction of a $1.8 billion advanced combat aircraft assembly facility in St. Louis, at a time when support for sixth-generation fighter programmes appears to be waning at the Pentagon.
-
NewsMerlin Labs exploring aircrew reduction technologies for SOCOM
The Boston-based autonomy start-up secured a $105 million contract from US Special Operations Command to design, integrate and test new technologies aimed at reducing the number of crew needed on MC-130J flights.
-
NewsNext-generation Bell tiltrotor advances in DARPA X-plane competition
Bell’s proposal for the Speed and Runway Independent Technologies project involves a tiltrotor-like aircraft, with the addition of a third, jet-powered flight mode in addition to the rotor-driven vertical and horizontal flight modes found in existing designs.
-
NewsDARPA reveals six concepts for new ship-based VTOL
Known as the Advanced Aircraft Infrastructure-Less Launch and Recovery – or ANCILLARY – programme, the effort aims to radically improve the range, payload, endurance and weight of vertical take-off and landing aircraft.
-
NewsAurora reveals new details of experimental fan-in-wing design
The fan-in-wing prototype recently advanced in DARPA’s Speed and Runway Independent Technologies project to develop a new high-speed jet aircraft capable of vertical take-off and landing.
-
NewsLatest F-35 configuration may not be ready for service until 2025
Already months behind schedule, US government auditors now predict the latest Technical Refresh 3 configuration of the Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter will not be ready for service until 2025, as the airframer struggles to resolve technical issues hindering flight certification of the new systems.
-
NewsAurora now sole designer in Pentagon heavy-lift seaplane effort
Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences is now the sole participant in a Pentagon effort to develop a heavy-lift amphibious transport, after a proposed design from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems was eliminated over schedule and technical concerns.
-
NewsPentagon to accelerate fielding of AeroVironment Switchblade 600 loitering munition
AeroVironment’s Switchblade 600 is now the first lethal platform to be officially purchased under the Pentagon’s so-called Replicator initiative to field mass numbers of autonomous combat systems.
-
NewsTop US Air Force official rides in front seat of autonomous F-16
Secretary of the US Air Force Frank Kendall flew in the lead seat of the service’s X-62A Variable In-flight Simulation Test Aircraft (VISTA), a specially modified Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter being used to test and develop artificial intelligence and autonomy capabilities.
-
NewsAurora advances in DARPA competition to build high-speed VTOL X-plane
The Boeing subsidiary received an additional $25 million for its fan-in-wing vertical take-off and landing aircraft being designed for the Speed and Runway Independent Technologies X-plane competition.
-
NewsAnduril and General Atomics advance in USAF autonomous fighter programme
Two manufacturers have been selected by the US Air Force to advance in the competition to develop an autonomous fighter aircraft.
-
NewsDARPA tests dogfighting AI against human fighter pilot
Using a specially modified F-16 fighter known as the X-62A VISTA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the US Air Force pitted a dogfighting artificial intelligence system against human fighter pilots in recent air-to-air combat exercises.
-
In depthFrustrations build in Washington over continued halt on F-35 deliveries
The Pentagon is preparing to curtail the latest upgrade package for the fifth-generation F-35 stealth fighter, as lawmakers expressed frustration with an eight-month freeze in new aircraft deliveries related to certifying new control software.