Americas * The Pentagon seeks to drastically decrease the sustainment costs of it F-35 Lightning II program. The $382 billion F-35 Joint Strike fighter program is considered to be the largest single global defense programs in history. This major multinational program...
IAF Hawk Mk.132 (click to view full) The induction of advanced jet trainers into India's Air Force has been a long and difficult process. After a number of false starts, and indigenous efforts like HAL's Ajeet that didn't quite live up to expectations, a 20-year...
Americas * Bloomberg reports that the Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion helicopter program may be falling behind schedule, as Pentagon officials have found that a significant number of components require redesign and re-qualification. While a spokesperson from Sikorsky's...
Americas * Aviation Week reports that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, has cancelled its XV-24A LightingStrike hybrid-electric, high-speed vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) X-plane. Developed by Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences, the...
Americas * Northrop Grumman received Wednesday, April 26, a $7.2 million contract from the US Navy. The agreement tasks the firm with machine learning algorithms (MLAs) for the Reactive Electronic Attack Measures (REAM) program. According to the Pentagon statement,...
Americas * The US Naval Air Systems Command has confirmed that the V-22 Aerial Refueling System (VARS) will start testing this fall. According to a US Marine Corps statement published by the Marine Corps Times, VARS-equipped Ospreys will be capable of providing an...
Americas * The US Army has contracted AeroVironment to provide upgraded hardware and parts for the Switchblade precision strike munition. Valued at $44.6 million, the agreement will task the firm, based out of Simi Valley, California, with providing Block10C inert...
Switchblade out (c) Aerovironment (click to view full) In late June 2011, the US Army gave Aerovironment a contract to begin fielding Switchblade UAV. Aerovironment's new tube-launched, man-portable UAV will work for surveillance, and transmits live color video. It...
Americas * The Trump administration has rolled out a new weapons export policy keeping in mind that “economic security is national security.” While some in the defense industry will be disappointed that the reforms did not go far enough—particularly when it comes to...