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...]
New Extended Range Missile Takes Flight
Raytheon and Kongsberg have completed a live-fire test for its new ground-launched Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Extended Range missile (AMRAAM-ER) for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS). The AMRAAM-ER could increase the engagement envelope for the NASAMS with a 50% increase in range and a 70% increase in altitude. There is some chatter that Raytheon is looking to offer the extended-range variant as an air-to-air missile and has performed digital tests for the possibility of fitting the AMRAAM-ER into the internal carriage of an F-35. The new missile variant gets … [Read more...]
AC-130 Gunship Crew Recognized for Saving 88 Lives in 2 Hour Battle
The American Airforce crew of an AC-130J Ghost Rider—flight “Shadow 71”—was awarded medals for a fierce battle in Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel that took place in September 2019. The Shadow 71 crew was credited with saving 88 American and Afghan Special Forces members as they provided nearly two hours of continuous close air support against multiple enemy ambushes and positions. The AC-130J Ghost Rider is equipped with a 105mm cannon, a 30mm GAU-23/A cannon, and wing pylons designed to haul both GBU-39/B small diameter bombs and AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. Who says … [Read more...]
MQ-25 Stingray Made Unmanned Refueling History
On June 4th, a MQ-25 unmanned aerial tanker refueled a Navy F/A-18 Hornet during a flight test. The test marked the first-ever aerial refueling between a manned fighter and an unmanned tanker. Stationing the MQ-25 aerial tanker aboard aircraft carriers would increase the effective strike range of the carrier’s fighters by up to 400 nautical miles. NAVAIR writes (abridged): This successful flight demonstrated that the MQ-25 Stingray can fulfill its tanker mission using the Navy’s standard probe-and-drogue aerial refueling method. “This flight lays the foundation for integration … [Read more...]
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