Bell Textron Inc. has unveiled its new high-speed vertical take-off and landing (HSVTOL) design concepts for the U.S. military. The new HSVTOL will cruise at speeds upwards of 400knts, and will be scalable for missions that will include unmanned personnel recovery to tactical mobility. There is also a version for the Sea-based Logistics Unmanned Refuel/Re-arm Platform (SLURRP) being proposed that could refuel the unmanned light version of the HSVTOL, see the second video below. This unmanned version is being pitched for the U.S. Air Force's emerging concept of expeditionary operations. The … [Read more...]
Navy’s MQ-25TM Stingray is Making History
Boeing’s MQ-25 Stingray made aviation history in June 2021 when it refueled a U.S. Navy F/A 18 Super Hornet, becoming the first ever unmanned aircraft to refuel another aircraft. The MQ-25 looks to extend the combat range of the F/A 18 Super Hornet, EA-18G Growler, and the F-35C fighters. The Stingray will also relieve the Super Hornets from their airborne tanker roles, passed on to them to fill the void left by the Navy’s retirement of the KA-6D and S-3B Viking tankers. Further development of the MQ-25 will allow the Super Hornets to focus on their primary missions moving forward. The most … [Read more...]
U.S. Military Conducted its First-Ever Live-Fire Test of Iron Dome on American Soil
The U.S. Army has successfully tested the Iron Dome missile defense battery at its White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The U.S. Army in conjunction with the Israeli Missile Defense Organization, took a critical step towards fielding the first of two Iron Dome Defense System-Army batteries. Anna Ahronheim of The Jerusalem Post writes (abridged): According to a statement released by the ministry, the Iron Dome system in its American configuration is expected “to protect deployed American forces from a variety of aerial threats, including cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles, rockets … [Read more...]
The Cloud Wars – Amazon Strikes Back!
Tech giants Microsoft and Amazon are preparing a high stakes fight over the NSA’s (National Security Agency) $10 billion-dollar secret cloud computing contract codenamed “WildandStromy.” The codename foreshadowed what’s to come, as the contract award is likely to be followed by lawsuits and protests for some time. A similar contract for a system known as JEDI (Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure) was won by Microsoft but was tied up in litigation by Amazon lawsuits and eventually canceled by the Pentagon in July of 2021. NextGov reports that the NSA has quietly awarded this secret cloud … [Read more...]
“It Failed Miserably” Classified U.S. Military Wargame Goes Wrong
The U.S. military held a classified wargame in October of 2020, and it did not go well. In the words of Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. John Hyten, “without overstating the issue, it failed miserably,” and they “ran rings around us.” What stood out the most in this failure was that the U.S., which is heavily reliant on its networks, lost access to them almost immediately. Tara Copp of DefenseOne writes (abridged): A brutal loss in a wargaming exercise last October convinced the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. John Hyten to scrap joint warfighting concepts that had … [Read more...]
REPORT: “America is Not Prepared to Defend or Compete in the AI Era”
In an open letter from the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI), the commission’s Chairman, Dr. Eric Schmidt, and Vice Chairman, the Hon. Robert O. Work, have set out the threats posed by artificial intelligence (AI) in the hands of potential enemies, and offer a stark warning that the U.S. “is not prepared to defend or compete in the AI era.” Checkmate: Russia’s New Single Engine Stealth Fighter Jet #Checkmate #SU75 Sukhoi, will unveil its new single-engine stealth fighter jet, the SU-75 dubbed “Checkmate,” today at the MAKS air show.Read more here: … [Read more...]
Checkmate: Russia’s New Single Engine Stealth Fighter Jet
Updated- Rostec, the Russian state-owned parent of aircraft maker Sukhoi, unveiled its new single-engine stealth fighter jet, the SU-75 dubbed “Checkmate,” during its presentation at the MAKS 2021 air show. Rostec originally tweeted a photo of a covered jet reading, “Wanna see me Naked?” but a teaser video of the jet on the presentation floor is giving us an inside look at the SU-75 and how it aims to counter the F-35. The War Zone writes (abridged): The biggest story going in the military aviation world right now is Russia's new light-to-medium-weight fighter that has been hyped-up by what … [Read more...]
Cost Estimates for F-35 Are on a “Zoom Climb”
The estimated sustainment costs for the F35 are on what fighter pilots like to call a “Zoom climb.” Since 2012, despite cost reduction efforts, sustainment costs are up by $150 billion. The Government Accountability Office (GOA) estimates that the cost to sustain the aircraft will be $6 billion more annually by 2036 than the Pentagon projects it can afford. The F35 continues to struggle to meet its mission capable (MC) rate objective, which is a set measure of the percentage of time the aircraft are safe to fly and able to perform at least one mission. The F-35 also hasn’t been able to … [Read more...]
Next-Gen Networked Satellites Built to Stymie Russia and China
China and Russia have been doggedly pursuing technologies capable of disrupting or destroying U.S. military and commercial satellites. Last year a pair of Russian satellites were spotted tailing a multibillion-dollar U.S. spy satellite and in July of 2020 Russia tested an anti-satellite weapon. To combat the threat of satellite disruption by near-peer enemies, the U.S. is working on a program called Blackjack that aims to reduce the cost, size, and vulnerability of America’s satellites, while simultaneously increasing their capabilities using distributed sensors. The program looks to use … [Read more...]
F-35 Takes Down Competition in Swiss Fighter Contest
In the race to win a contract as Switzerland’s new fighter jet supplier, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 JSF was victorious in beating out competitors from Eurofighter, Dassault, and Boeing. Switzerland has agreed to buy 36 F-35As to replace its aging fleet of F/A 18 Hornets. Switzerland will become the 15th nation to join the F-35 program. The F-35 beat out Boeing’s Super Hornet, Dassault’s Rafale, and Eurofighter’s Typhoon in effectiveness, product support, and cooperation, but most notably in survivability and situational awareness. Lockheed’s proposal came in at $2.16 billion less than the … [Read more...]
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