Current Events in the Americas

AvWeek gave great coverage of the hearings today in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) on the F-35 JSF program. Some links of interest arising from the hearing: Joint Statement of Pentagon acquisition chief Ashton Carter, USAF acquisition chief David Van Buren and F-35 JPO head Vice Adm David Venlet (PDF) Statement of Pentagon Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) director Christine Fox (PDF) Statement of Pentagon Operational Test & Evaluation (OT&E) director Michael Gilmore (PDF) Statement of Lockheed Martin VP/GM Tom Burbage (PDF) (he apparently did not take any questions) Statement of Michael Sullivan of the GAO …

From ARES JSF Secrets to Stay Secret Posted by David A. Fulghum at 2/10/2009 4:09 PM CST Nobody is going to be allowed to play around with the software that controls the F-35’s electronic warfare package. After a long period of obtuse answers about whether foreign customers would be able to put their own systems in F-35 or customize the software themselves, the issue has been clarified. “No,” says Maj. Gen. Charles Davis, program executive officers of the Joint Strike Fighter program. The super-classified software allows electronic surveillance, detection, identification, self-defense and attack. A software-run techniques generator also will be able to se…

Looks like the JSF has taken some measure of revenge against one of its greatest critics ... Danger Room: Aviation Week grounds top critic of gajillion dollar jet DEW Line: Aviation Week suspends Bill Sweetman from F-35 story

From Flight International JSF team rejects dedicated EA-35 By Graham Warwick USMC looks at 'plug-and-play' electronic alternatives The US Marine Corps is looking to raise the electronic attack capability of its Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, but will not build a dedicated "EA-35" jamming version, says deputy commandant for aviation Lt Gen John Castellaw. Just last year, the JSF team was studying an EA-35 variant, but Castellaw now says: "We are moving away from dedicated platforms. We get a designed-in [electronic attack] capability with the AESA [active electronically scanned array radar], and there are other opportunities we will be pursuing."…

From Marine Corps Times Audit: Buying, flying JSF to cost $1 trillion By Richard Lardner - The Associated Press Posted : Wednesday Mar 12, 2008 14:55:31 EDT WASHINGTON — The cost of buying and operating a new fleet of jet fighters for the U.S. military is nearing $1 trillion, according to a congressional audit that found the program dogged by delays, manufacturing inefficiencies and price increases. Released Tuesday, the report from the Government Accountability Office offers a sobering assessment of the ambitious effort to deliver a modern series of aircraft known as the F-35 Lightning II to the Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Tasked by Congress to co…

Revolutionizing Electronic Warfare JSF Will Combine Strike, Jamming, Intelligence ISRJournal By MICHAEL FABEY August 23, 2005 The U.S. Marine Corps wants its F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) to be more than an affordable replacement for the Harrier close-air-support plane; it wants the next-generation aircraft to jam the cell phones that trigger roadside bombs. “For about the past six months, the Marines have been coming to us and asking if there was anything the JSF could do to support the guys on the ground, to shut down a communications system,” said David Jeffreys, a program manager with F-35 maker Lockheed Martin. And in February, the Marines…

Unless you've been living under a rock, the never ending saga of fanbois versus hater continues in the world of JSF. Here, Aviation Week's Bill Sweetman takes a crack at tearing (yet) another new one in JSF. A Tale of Two Tales

KC-46A Tanker Gets New Name: Pegasus (DefenseNews)

(Source: Ares and BBC) So, attempt number three at this has gone to Boeing...

From Flight International DATE:26/08/08 SOURCE:Flight International Northrop declines to rule out platform switch for new KC-X bid By Stephen Trimble As Boeing reportedly considers alternate platforms or withdrawal from the US Air Force's KC-X tanker competition, the Northrop Grumman/EADS North America team may also consider upgrading its tanker offer. The US Department of Defense plans to release a final request for proposals during the last week of August, in defiance of Boeing's public requests for an extension period. Boeing's chosen 767-200ERX platform is likely to be too small to compete against the KC-30B version of the A330-200 if fuel offload c…

From Ares KC-X Bids in: And the Race Begins, Again Posted by Amy Butler at 7/9/2010 12:45 PM CDT Another year is halfway through, and another round of tanker bids is in. A winner is expected Nov. 12, though Air Force officials simply say fall. Don't expect much out of the Pentagon. It appears to be in lock down mode. Air Force spokeswoman Col. Debra Millett says the service will not even disclose how many bidders offer proposals. Clearly, the name of the game is protest avoidance. Here's Millett's statement: "The KC-X program is presently in the source selection process, and in order to protect the integrity and independence of this process, we are pr…

From Defense Aerospace Tanker Recapitalization Proposal Released (Source: US Air Force; issued Jan. 30, 2007) WASHINGTON --- Air Force leaders officially released a request for proposal for a replacement tanker aircraft Jan. 30. The RFP is the official invitation to manufacturers to begin making offers to build a replacement for the Air Force's aging "Eisenhower-era" fleet of KC-135 Stratotankers, said Sue Payton, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition. "This is a major milestone in fair, open and transparent dialogue that we have been involved in since the request for information was sent out in April of 2006," she said. "We are con…

From Defense Aerospace Keel Laid for First Littoral Combat Ship, USS Freedom (Source: US Navy; issued June 3, 2005) MARINETTE, Wis. --- The keel was laid and authenticated for the Navy's first Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) June 2 at Marinette Marine here. The 378-foot LCS will be the first U.S. ship to carry this class designation. "LCS Represents the cutting edge of a new Navy, the likes of which we have never seen before," said Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vern Clark during his remarks at the ceremony. "It is a great personal privilege to confirm this keel on such a brave and bold future for our Navy." The future USS Freedom (LCS 1) acknowledge…

From Defense Aerospace Op-Ed: Killing The President’s New Helicopter Wastes $8 Billion (Source: Lexington Institute; issued June 2, 2009) Four months into his first (and possibly only) term, President Barack Obama is beginning to grasp the severity of the government's fiscal crisis. Washington is spending $5 billion per day it does not have; the bond market is signaling that it will demand much higher interest rates to absorb all the debt the Treasury needs to place; the dollar is weakening; and the outlook for the administration's ambitious domestic agenda is dimming. The White House is rethinking how to reform healthcare and searching for savings in entitle…

How a $2.7 billion air-defense system became a 'zombie' program (LA Times)

From Air Force Link Langley officials fight to keep F-22s from being damaged by Tech. Sgt. Russell Wicke Air Combat Command Public Affairs 4/9/2008 - LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (AFPN) -- The Air Force's newest and most technologically advanced fighter, the F-22 Raptor, is under attack here. Free-falling clams dropped by in-flight birds are regular air threats to the F-22 as gulls drop fist-sized mollusks on the Langley Air Force Base runway to break open the shell-fish appetizer. The birds' shelling device just happens to be a convenient launch pad for the F-22. Although the gulls remove half their mess -- slurping up tender meat from the runway -- they…

From Defense Aerospace Raytheon's Laser-Guided Maverick Missile Meets Urgent Air Force Need (Source: Raytheon Co.; issued Aug. 16, 2007) TUCSON, Ariz. --- Having published an urgent operational need for a close air support weapon to defeat high-speed moving targets with minimal collateral damage, the U.S. Air Force has expressed interest in re-establishing production of Raytheon Company's laser-guided Maverick. The laser-guided AGM-65E Maverick missile is an air-to-ground weapon that can meet the service's needs in the near-term. The Air Force currently operates with television- and infrared-guided versions of Maverick. Until now, only the Navy and Ma…

Navy awaits laser minesweeping By William Matthews - Staff writer Posted : Monday Apr 2, 2007 21:16:54 EDT Sweeping along at 60 knots, a Navy helicopter equipped with a blue-green laser will soon be able to detect mines in water deeper than 40 feet. Using data collected during the sweep, the helicopter will return to the area and use a second, more focused laser to zero in on the mines, then destroy them with specially designed 30-millimeter supercavitating bullets. The new Airborne Laser Mine Detection System (ALMDS) and its companion Rapid Airborne Mine Clearance System (RAMICS) promise to dramatically speed up mine detection and clearing of floating an…

From Air Force Times Last F-16A retires from service Staff report Posted : Wednesday Jun 20, 2007 16:02:25 EDT The last operational U.S. F-16A Fighting Falcon completed its final mission June 15 when it flew from Tucson Air National Guard Base, Ariz., and touched down at the so-called bone yard — the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. The plane belonged to the 162nd Fighter Wing at Tucson, which has converted to the C and D models. “We constantly transition to newer, more advanced aircraft because that’s what pilots will fly when they graduate from our program,” said wing commander Brig. Gen. Rick Moisio. …

From Flight Global [excerpt]