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PALMDALE, California--Just after dusk on Dec. 2 -- to the sound of swelling music and applause from thousands of workers and dignitaries --Northrop Grumman employees removed a white shroud from [...]

The next year will be pivotal for the Air Force's effort to acquire a new class of autonomous drones, as industry teams compete for a chance to build a fleet [...]

Q: In what areas do you think you've been able to move the ball forward, and what's the biggest challenge that you faced that you may not have anticipated going [...]

From the Jetsons to Blade Runner to James Bond to a multitude of other TV shows and films, popular culture has long been fascinated with the idea of flying cars. [...]

The technological and logistical circumstances of the modern war-fighter are nothing like those of warfighters who lived 100 years ago. Following World War I, Benedict Crowell believed in the need [...]

The Air Force is preparing to make a long-awaited decision on which two companies will be heavy lift providers for the next phase of its National Security Space Launch program [...]

* Last year the Air Force announced that it had tapped a Boeing-Saab team to build its next-generation pilot trainer that would prepare its aviators for future fights. A year [...]

As potential adversaries enhance their long-range weapons, the United States is moving forward with plans to bolster its own global strike capabilities. The stakes are high as officials try to [...]

LONDON--Despite pandemic lockdowns and other hurdles, the United Kingdom is moving quickly toward making its fleet of F-35B joint strike fighters fully operational. Initial operating capability was achieved in January [...]

Democratic President Joe Biden came into office vowing to reverse many decisions of his predecessor, but one controversial Pentagon program initiated under former Republican President Donald Trump's watch is moving [...]

The United States and Australia have joined forces to build air-launched hypersonic cruise missiles that could shift the military balance of power in the Asia-Pacific region. Defense officials see hypersonics [...]

After a decade-long battle against Airbus that included protests and allegations of corruption, Boeing in 2011 won the highly-coveted contract to build a new aerial refueling aircraft for the Air [...]

Lawmakers Move to End Presidential 'Piggy Bank' * Some House Armed Services Committee members want to put a stop to what they consider inappropriate and harmful reprogramming of military construction [...]

It has been called both an Achilles' heel and the ultimate high ground for the U.S. military. Space might be the final frontier for exploration, but the millions of square [...]

The wars of the past decade fueled a demand for satellite communications services from the commercial industry, as the military's own spacecraft could not keep up with commanders' gargantuan needs. [...]

The nation's top three military contractors will compete for a multi-billion dollar, decades-long program to replace the Air Force's fleet of Minuteman III nuclear missiles and to modernize its command-and-control [...]

The U.S. Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force are making progress with efforts to develop unmanned jets that can serve as 'loyal wingmen' for manned counterparts. Under the concept, [...]

As the fanfare around the new military service dies down, many unanswered questions surrounding the structure of the Space Force still remain. The newest member of the armed services was [...]

Following years of delays and high-profile snafus, the Boeing Co. is predicting the KC-46 Pegasus aerial refueling tanker program will meet its key performance goals. Boeing won the $4.9 billion [...]

The Air Force has ignited an effort to replace its surveillance and targeting aircraft system with modern airframes outfitted with new radar, sensors and communications equipment. No requirements are on [...]

* The world is a very different place than it was in the 1950s, when the United States needed thousands of nuclear warheads and three ways to deliver them on [...]

The future of F-35A joint strike fighter procurement will likely be affected by the development of robotic jets --known as loyal wingmen--and how the Air Force decides to integrate them [...]

U.S. Air Force elite forces known as 'special tactics airmen' will be going to war with a modem suite of portable electronics, including a newly developed system that guides fighter [...]

* Boeing is looking to increase investments in performance-based logistics in order to win more contracts with the Defense Department, a company executive told National Defense. Unlike traditional transactional contracts, [...]

The article reports the speeding up of development of hypersonic technology in planes and weapons by U.S. military due to urgency showed by rivals of Russia and China.Topics discussed include involvement of the Army, Navy and Air Force in the campaign for more test flights; acceleration in development and demonstration of hypersonic systems by U.S. Department of Defense, and development of two hypersonic vehicle by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Air Force.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] IN THE SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN -- An Air Force surveillance plane takes off on a balmy December evening flora Curacao, a Dutch island dependency off the northern coast of [...]

It is a program shrouded in secrecy. Air Force officials over the past few years have been happy to talk publicly about how much they need a new long-range strike [...]

The article reports that U.S. Air Force has ambitious plans regarding the modernization of the air leg of nation's nuclear arsenal. They are pursuing a next-generation stealth bomber aircraft known as the B-21 Raider which is expected to give Pentagon a new long-range strike system. The bomber is managed and acquired through Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office.

* National Defense reporters will be busy covering the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference in Orlando, Dec. 3-5. The conference is organized by NDIA affiliate the National Training and [...]

* Holidays are great. We take time off from our worries and relax. Unfortunately, holidays end, and often a built-up work backlog greets us back in the real world. The [...]

* Gen. David Goldfein is the 21st Air Force Chief of Staff. On July 31, he spoke with National Defense staff writer Connie Lee to discuss a wide range of [...]

* For the United States and its allies, the F-16 has proven time and again to be the perfect all-around, multi-mission tighter aircraft, and with ongoing delays in developing a [...]

Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson, standing before a large crowd of government and industry officials, declared that the service's space enterprise would dramatically cut the time it takes [...]

* The Air Force's effort to field a new combat rescue helicopter in the 2020s is moving forward on time, a change from years of false starts and schedule delays [...]

The article highlights several aircrafts such as arsenal plane, F-35A and A-X2 that could be considered by the U.S. Air Force after retirement of A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft in 2022. It presents views of then-Air Force Chief of Staff Mark Welsh on comparing desired capabilities of close-air support platforms.

The article informs about the Hypersonics Capabilities Conference of National Defense Industrial Association, and discusses the need for collaboration among government, industry and academia in the U.S. Topics include sustained and predictable modernization investments is introduced by the 2018 National Defense Strategy, announcement by the Navy and Air Force on separating booster development contracts, and requirement of more long-range power projection from submarines by the joint force.

The article looks at the upgrades made by the U.S. Air Force to the B-52H Stratofortress strategic bombers to keep it viable until 2050s. The replacement of the fleet's engines is regarded as the most costly efforts in the series of improvements, which include replacement of the APQ-166 terrain-following and mapping radars, the internal weapons bay upgrade program, and the upgrade of data and voice communications capabilities through the combat network communications technology program.

The defense industry's new favorite acronym: O&S. Operations and support, or operations and sustainment, is military-speak for the unglamorous work of maintaining, refurbishing and overhauling Pentagon hardware, some of which [...]

As the Iraqi and Afghan conflicts evolve essentially into ground wars--with U.S. and coalition infantry units fighting small bands of guerrilla fighters--the Air Force is moving to improve its ability [...]

The Air Force expects to have a fleet of 'smart' tankers ready to fly by year's end. It could take much longer, however, to figure out how to best take [...]

The article focuses on a recapitalization program for modernization of Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System by the US Air Force due to an aging of legacy platforms and to use advanced battle management system. It discusses sensors and communications architecture used by the U.S. military, source selection process by the Air Force for engineering and manufacturing development and its budget for JSTARS aircraft. It discusses a financial burden of Air Force and challenges of the program.

The article discusses issues over the F-35 joint strike fighter aircraft of aerospace firm Lockheed Martin as of September 2014. Topics covered include the fire that damaged the engine of the jet's U.S. Air Force version prior to a training flight on June 23, 2014, comments of Winslow Wheeler, director of the Straus Military Reform Project at the Project on Government Oversight, on F-35, and the status of Lockheed's contract negotiations with the Pentagon's F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO).

The Air Force is requesting more funding for space technologies, and creating a new directorate to advocate for resources. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] For fiscal year 2018, the service requested approximately $7.75 [...]

* Army soldiers loaded a U.S. Stryker armored personnel carrier into a U.K. Royal Air Force A400M Atlas cargo aircraft during a recent equipment evaluation exercise. The vehicle rolled into [...]

The article reports on the request for proposals released by the U.S. Air Force, to acquire a long-range standoff weapon LRSO in replacement of the nuclear air-launched cruise missile due to budget constraints and political opposition. Topics discussed include the benefits of LRSO weapon system as a cost-effective force multiplier for aircraft, the conducted source selection and award contracts and the nuclear modernization plans by the U.S. administrative building Pentagon.

The article reflects on technologies, new products and architectures that are shaping space systems. It argues that federal budget cut is pressurizing U.S. government at time when it is deciding to move forward technologies such as military satellite communications, navigation, missile warning, surveillance and civil programs. It mentions that the U.S. Air Force will maintaing navigation system through evolution of global positioning system.

The article focuses on human enhancement or human augmentation technologies that scientists and engineers are working to enhance the U.S. troops. Topics discussed include the launch of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) 4MM project, the development of "Air Legs" by researchers at Arizona State University and the Air Force Research Laboratory's exploration of the implications of transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS)

The article focuses on the lawsuit filed by rocket builder SpaceX against the U.S. Air Force in April 2014 over the no-compete, sole-source contract for 36 rockets was awarded to joint venture United Launch Alliance (ULA). Topics discussed include the Falcon 9 rocket developed by SpaceX in 2010, the start of the ULA joint venture between aerospace companies Lockheed Martin and Boeing in 2006, and the alleged 460 million U.S. dollars block buy contract being investigated in 2014.

The U.S. military operates fleets of Cold War-era aircraft that will not be replaced any time soon. For the Pentagon, this creates daunting challenges, experts warn. Airplanes will have to [...]

The Air Force has awarded a potential five-year, $224 million task order to Technica Corp. to fill the service's information technology needs. Through the Air Force National Capital Region Information [...]