SSC concept(click to view full) The Ship to Shore Connector (SSC) hovercraft program aims to build on the USA's LCAC hovercraft experience, and retain the US Navy's unparalleled transport options from ship to shore and beyond. LCACs launch from inside the well deck of...
* The Pentagon's office for operational testing (DOTE) published an update to their presentation [PDF] explaining reasons behind program delays. Their main conclusion is well-known, self-protective, and true as long as you test the right things: "It is not testing per...
Hungarian T-72(click to view full) The Hungarian Ministry of Defence has announced that they've sold 58 T-72 tanks to a Czech company, Excalibur Defense Ltd., who has begun transporting them into the Czech Republic. Under the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in...
* Politico reviewed SEC filings from major US defense contractors and found that "The number of employees at the five largest U.S. defense firms has dropped 14% from a peak in 2008 - and 10% over the past decade." Lockheed Martin shrunk its workforce the most, in...
Fuchs 1A8(click to view full) Reports out of Germany suggest that Rheinmetall Defense has signed a contract with Algeria for 980 Fuchs (Fox) 6x6 wheeled armored personnel carriers. They're often used as NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) reconnaissance vehicles, but...
* The Pentagon aborted the test flight of a hypersonic weapon shortly after launch early this morning. Washington Free Beacon. * A SpaceX rocket exploded during a test flight on Friday. Video. * In each case, nobody was hurt. Test failures happen, otherwise tests...
T-6C(click to view full) In January 2012, Hawker Beechcraft sold an initial order of 6 new T-6C+ military trainers to the Mexican Air Force (FAM), with deliveries to begin to "an advanced training base in Mexico's northern region" in early 2012. This is almost...
* DARPA is hosting a webinar on September 9 to discuss "Atoms to Product" [PDF]: "Many common materials exhibit unique and very uncommon physical characteristics when fabricated into nanometer scale particles, i.e., dimensions near the size of atoms. These “atomic...
KC-10 & F-22A(click to view full) International CNS/ATM standards are in the beginning stages of a profound change. The FAA has mandated changes by 2015 that will tighten requirements for flying in civil airspace without a special permit, and the ICAO is working to a...