Defense

As the foundation of U.S. military dominance becomes a vulnerability, DARPA makes push for decentralizing

The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved the Pentagon’s fiscal 2020 budget request and would provide the Defense Department with $694.9 billion in accordance with the 2019 Bipartisan Budget Act.

A new air-launched missile with 30-40 km (16.2-21.6 nm) range that can be used to destroy integrated air defense systems and lightly armored vehicles is now being pursued by the U.S. Army’s aviation branch.

The proposed tie-up of Raytheon and United Technologies is being billed publicly as a potential catalyst for new technology some day in the future.

NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) has a $4.7 billion annual impact on the overall Texas economy and supports more than 52,000 government and private sector jobs, according to a first-ever statewide assessment by Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar.

U.S. Air Force Secretary nominee Barbara Barrett believes establishing a sixth armed service focused on space is long overdue.

Some major telecommunications satellite operators have expressed cautiousness about 5G—a fifth-generation mobile communications network that satellites are supposed to be a component of—as a business opportunity, suggesting it may not live up to the hype.

The service’s overall program of record of 420 aircraft is expected to remain unchanged, but the fleet split between the current plan to buy 353 short-takeoff-vertical-landing (Stovl)-capable F-35Bs and 67 carrier-based F-35Cs could change dramatically.

The U.S. Air Force has identified a potential new design flaw with the KC-46A tanker and banned the fleet from carrying cargo or passengers until a solution is found and delivered.

The new "Space Inspire" satellite is part of a trend toward software-defined spacecraft that also includes Airbus’s Onesat and Boeing’s 702X series.

The Royal Air Force (RAF) is to equip its fleet of eight Beechcraft Shadow tactical intelligence-gathering aircraft with Leonardo’s Miysis directed infrared countermeasure.

Addressing the increasing role of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in maritime operations, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has added new capabilities to the Heron family of UAS, preparing the drone to assume anti-submarine warfare (ASW) missions.

Following airframe and engine demonstrators for its next combat aircraft, Japan flies an integrated suite of radar, passive RF and infrared sensors.

The industrial capabilities on which the U.S. defense strategy relies would wither from increasing isolation.

USAF to pack the B-1 with more weapons; Trump fires national security advisor Bolton; Sweden’s defense budget gets a boost; Virtual war game planned for Finland’s fighter contest.

A typical day for Wirsing, a technical program manager, involves the far edges of what is possible in aerospace and defense.

Impatient U.S. lawmakers are threatening to transfer authority and some procurement funding for buying light attack aircraft to U.S. Special Operational Command from the USAF.

Lockheed Martin intends to migrate its F-35 digital support backbone, the Autonomic Logistics Information System, to a native-cloud architecture by year’s end and field it in 2020.

To be sure an emphasis on lunar field geology is not overlooked as NASA races to return astronauts to the lunar surface by 2024, NASA is being called on to set a high bar for training in the discipline for its future lunar and Mars astronauts.

The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency has notified Congress of a possible $6.5 billion sale to Poland of 32 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft.

The U.S. Navy is developing an On-Demand Hypoxia Trainer to provide awareness of the condition and is garnering pilot feedback on how to make improvements before it enters the fleet in 2021.

The evolution of the telecommunications satellite industry remains driven by fast growth in data traffic, Euroconsult CEO Pacome Revillon says.

The Indonesian police force has taken delivery of its third Bell 429 light helicopter, completing a contract signed three years ago.

Missile manufacturer MBDA is developing concepts for new short-range air-to-air missiles that could be one of the armaments for the UK’s future Tempest combat aircraft.

The simulated war game, dubbed the HX Challenge, will “verify what the candidates have said and promised in their answers,” the program director says.