All articles by James Drew – Page 27
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NewsF-35 accident investigation board posts findings
An accident investigation board has pegged the cost of last year’s “catastrophic engine failure” of an A-model Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter at $50 million.
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NewsNorthrop unveils NATO-1 Global Hawk destined for Europe
Northrop Grumman has unveiled the first of five RQ-4B aircraft for NATO’s Alliance Ground Surveillance programme at a ceremony in Palmdale, California – a milestone on the multinational programme that has been 20 years in the making.
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NewsCash boost for Lockheed’s anti-ship missile programme
The value of Lockheed Martin’s Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) development programme has been raised by $104 million to $306 million as the US military presses to have the autonomous, ship-killing missile integrated with the B-1B “Bone” bomber and F/A-18 Super Hornet by 2018 and 2019, respectively.
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NewsUSAF moving past cluster munitions, CALCM cruise missile
The US Air Force expects that production of a 500-pound, iron-spraying bomb, among other efforts, will eliminate the need for cluster munitions after 2018, is accordance with a timeline set by the Pentagon in 2008
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NewsBoeing 767-2C tanker completes first flight with boom, wing pods
The first engineering and manufacturing development aircraft of Boeing’s KC-46 tanker programme has completed its first airworthiness flight equipped with an aerial refuelling boom and wing air refuelling pods with a 4.3h flight from Boeing Field to Paine Field in Washington state.
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Sensor upgrades top USAF wish list for F-35 Block 4
Improving two of the Lockheed Martin F-35’s key sensors should be priorities for a future operational standard called Block 4, says a top US Air Force general.
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NewsNorthrop unveils OpenPod as USAF seeks F-15 IRST
Northrop Grumman has responded to US Air Force interest in an infrared search and track (IRST) capability for its F-15C Eagle by unveiling OpenPod, a reconfigurable sensor pod which the company says is already being flight tested on a tactical military aircraft. Northrop’s system would employ an IRST system produced ...
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NewsBoeing 767-2C tanker airframe resumes airworthiness flights
The first Boeing KC-46A Pegasus test tanker has returned to the skies over the US state of Washington with a four-and-a-half-hour airworthiness flight on Thursday and another flight late on Friday, the company says.
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NewsMarine Corps F-35Bs depart USS Wasp after carrier tests
Six US Marine Corps F-35B Joint Strike Fighters have departed the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp following a one-and-a-half-week trial that included 108 test sorties and an F135 engine delivery from a V-22 Osprey as the first combat fighter squadron stationed in Yuma, Arizona, prepares to declare initial operational capability ...
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NewsUPDATE: DOD wants to block-buy 450 F-35 jets from Lockheed
The Pentagon says it has enough confidence in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme to start planning for a three-year block buy that would purchase about 450 jets from prime contractor Lockheed Martin.
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NewsBell Helicopter wants USAF to trade Huey for Huey
As the US Air Force pumps more money into its nuclear mission, Bell Helicopter and several other rotorcraft manufacturers are eyeing a lucrative opportunity to replace the 45-year-old UH-1N Huey fleet currently guarding America’s Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles.
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NewsEmbraer hands first modernized AF-1B carrier jet to Brazilian Navy
Embraer has handed the Brazilian Navy the first of 12 modernised AF-1 intercept and attack jets through a programme aimed at extending the service life of carrier-based aircraft through to 2025.
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NewsSpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket approved to launch US military satellites
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has been certified by the US military to put its most important satellites on orbit, injecting long-awaited competition into the multibillion-dollar American national security space launch market that has been dominated for almost a decade by United Launch Alliance.
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NewsPentagon firming F-35 Block 4 configuration
As Pentagon decides what new combat capabilities to “bake” into the Block 4 configuration of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, there is concern about planned upgrades sliding from earlier configurations into Block 4, and about the overall price tag as those modifications are rolled out in the early ...
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NewsVIDEO: Boeing confident in SB-1 design for Pentagon's FVL
Boeing is banking on its partnership with Sikorsky on the SB-1 Defiant demonstrator to help usher in the next generation of rotorcraft for Army but still anticipates that its long-serving AH-64 Apaches and CH-47 Chinooks will continue to dominate the skies out to 2060.
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NewsFrance meets IOC milestone with second upgraded E-3 AWACS
The French Air Force has completed test and evaluation of its second modernized E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) jet, declaring initial operational capability on its Boeing-lead mid-life upgrade programme earlier this week.
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NewsUS Air Force X-37B returns to orbit on Atlas V
The US Air Force has announced the successful launch of its Boeing X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle aboard an Atlas V rocket today from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
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NewsBoeing discussing international A-10 Warthog sales
Boeing has floated the idea of selling refurbished A-10 Warthogs to other nations as the US Air Force seeks to retire the venerable attack airplane.
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NewsBoeing doesn't see business case yet for RD-180 replacement
Boeing’s president of network and space systems says he’s yet to see the business case for developing an alternative rocket engine to the Russian-built RD-180 that powers the Atlas V rocket, even as lawmakers press the US military to develop an American-made alternative by 2019.
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NewsUS air force considering new 2,000lb rocket-propelled penetrating weapon
The US Air Force’s chief scientist says the high velocity penetrating weapon its research laboratory has designed for internal carriage on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is ready to transfer to a development and production programme.