Americas * Much tut-tutting is heard in the trade press now that the Air Force is stating openly that the F-35 will not be prepared to take on the close air support (CAS) role for which it is, in small part, slated. This has not slowed down the Air Force's ardor for...
Americas * The Air Force again concluded it should phase out the A-10, after an oddly brief reconsideration period (a week). The plan is to move the close air support mission to F-16s and F-15s until such time as the F-35A can take on the role, which is not expected...
Americas * The Wall Street Journal (paid) reported today that the impending choice for the future bomber will be constructed via a cost-plus deal, surprising most Pentagon watchers, as the DoD has been trying hard to move away from owning the cost overage liabilities....
Americas * The U.S. approved BAE's Advanced Threat Infrared Countermeasures system for export. * The General Accountability Office released its study (PDF) of 15 ACAT II and ACAT III programs - those not reaching the lofty spending heights of the major defense...
Americas * The USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) came off the stocks at Austal's manufacturing facility in Mobile, Alabama. Austal will soon be pumping out two LCSs per year. The Giffords will be delivered in 2017 after further work and testing is done. * Bell...
Americas * The Air Force put 9 A-10 Warthogs into reserve, pushing the resources fielding those close air support fighters toward the F-35 program. * The Navy will buy three blocking boats (with an option for a fourth) built in 2008 and 2009 that have been used to...
Americas * China's submarine fleet outnumbers that of the U.S., according to the U.S.'s deputy chief of Navy operations. Numbers aren't everything, but Pacific based submariners will miss the days when all the Chinese boats could be shadowed. * The F35B's petite...
Americas * In separate events, both the Army (to a defense writers' group) and the Air Force (to a Senate panel) testified to their inability to perform their missions without budget increases. * The Air Force is looking nervously at its capacity to meet the...
Americas * Boeing told National Defense Magazine that they may have their first V-22 export client shortly; this coming just a day after reports of South Korea kicking the Osprey's tires. * The Air Force appears to have conceded that it is unlikely to kill off the...