100,000 tons of inertia — the case to shift away from carriers
Here’s an excerpt from the 1st Prize paper in US Naval Institute’s 2019 contest, “100,000 Tons of Inertia.” It does a good job pulling apart […]
Programs
It can be done! The Air Force’s new fighter jet built in one year
The U.S. Air Force revealed this week that it has secretly designed, built, and tested a new prototype fighter jet. The fighter, about which we know […]
A new trajectory for the digital century series aircraft program?
The original Century Series was intended to master the critical emerging technologies of its time: revolutionary improvements in hardware for jet propulsion and supersonic flight, which were central […]
Zumwalt’s advanced gun system woes
The LRLAPs [Long Range Land-Attack Projectiles] were to have been coordinate-attack weapons, guided by GPS satellite signals and inertial navigation systems to specific points ashore. […]
Major defense programs are getting older and more expensive
The current portfolio is smaller yet more expensive that last year’s portfolio. This is the third time in 10 years that a decrease in the […]
Trump releases info about hypersonic AGM-183A: Perhaps Mach 14, 1K range, and 14 inch CEP?
In a White House news-press, [Trump] said he had spoken with the Joint Chiefs a few days before then about the “super duper” missile that […]
Is GPS a legacy platform that requires disruption?
Commanders in the field have increasingly been slapping DoD with “joint urgent operational needs” for equipment that does not need to rely on GPS because […]
Massive ABMS contract to an unknown 5-person firm [UPDATED]
Under the $950,000,000 award ceiling, Hellebore will support the maturation, demonstration, and proliferation of capability across platforms and domains to enable Joint All Domain Command […]
Why carriers are not doomed
Last time, I discussed the first problem in killing a carrier, that of finding it. That alone is a challenge, but the problems for the […]
Navy tries to bring enterprise IT up to the “state of the shelf”
Over the past several decades, the size and duration of contractors for services, particularly in the areas of information technology (IT) and networking, have increased […]
F-35’s ALIS software updates, indecision, culture clash
To be cleared for flight, F-35 policy states that an aircraft must be electronically “complete” in ALIS [autonomic logistics information system], meaning that all of […]
More Air Force success turning manual processes into software, TRON/BESPIN
Scheduling training for C-17 Globemaster III pilots and crew is about to get easier with the launch of Puckboard, a data-powered software application to plan […]
Anduril shows off very cool capabilities for ABMS
As we look at how we close kill chains, there’s very much a man in the loop at every single point. That process today takes […]
Air Force reorganizes acquisition for Fighters and Bombers
The Air Force Materiel Command’s Air Force Life Cycle Management Center will split Fighters and Bombers Directorate into a Fighters and Advanced Aircraft Directorate and […]
Will bureaucracy descend on the Air Force ABMS program?
The Air Force’s ABMS is a family of systems intended to replace the command and control capabilities of aging legacy programs and develop a network […]