Defiant Gets Real: Sikorsky & Boeing Unveil SB>1 Super Chopper

Defiant Gets Real: Sikorsky & Boeing Unveil SB>1 Super Chopper
Defiant Gets Real: Sikorsky & Boeing Unveil SB>1 Super Chopper

After years of secrecy and CGI, we’re finally getting to see the Sikorsky-Boeing dream team’s SB>1 Defiant ultra-high-speed helicopter in real life. Now they just have to prove it works.

Space Force Will Have Seat On Joint Chiefs, Not Full Independence; Costs TBD

Space Force Will Have Seat On Joint Chiefs, Not Full Independence; Costs TBD
Space Force Will Have Seat On Joint Chiefs, Not Full Independence; Costs TBD

PENTAGON: The Air Force has eked out a victory in the Pentagon’s latest proposal for a Space Force. While many in the Air Force would prefer to keep their current preeminent role in space operations and not create a new service at all, the current plan — to be submitted by year’s end for inclusion…

MPF Light Tank Profits Estimated ~$495M: Byron Callan

MPF Light Tank Profits Estimated ~$495M: Byron Callan
MPF Light Tank Profits Estimated ~$495M: Byron Callan

The Army’s said it wants 504 of the MPF light tanks. But analyst Byron Callan is betting that either the Marine Corps or foreign buyers (or both) add another 106, bringing the total to 610 machines.

Israel: Does Elbit’s Rise Mean IAI’s Downfall?

Israel: Does Elbit’s Rise Mean IAI’s Downfall?
Israel: Does Elbit’s Rise Mean IAI’s Downfall?

“Before I took office,” IAI chairman Harel Locker said at a recent conference, “(I) realized that if the company did not change, it could collapse within a few years.”

White House, Pentagon Remain In Dark Over Syria Withdrawal

White House, Pentagon Remain In Dark Over Syria Withdrawal
White House, Pentagon Remain In Dark Over Syria Withdrawal

Republican Senators erupted in outrage, and there are some indications that Turkey pushed Trump to withdraw support from its traditional foes, the Kurds. The British government issued an equivocal statement, while the Kremlin applauded the move.

Beyond 386 Squadrons: AFWIC’s Four Futures For The Air Force

Beyond 386 Squadrons: AFWIC’s Four Futures For The Air Force
Beyond 386 Squadrons: AFWIC’s Four Futures For The Air Force

“AFWIC was told to inform and try to shape the ’20 POM,” Fantini told reporters, but that 2020-2024 budget plan is due out in February and was already largely locked down. “But the ’21 POM,” he said, it’s “game on.”

Bell V-280 Valor: Anniversary Tour?

Bell V-280 Valor: Anniversary Tour?
Bell V-280 Valor: Anniversary Tour?

“We … are looking at opportunities to do a road trip,” Bell executive Keith Flail told me. “Can we take the V-280 to a handful of key Army and Marine Corps installations to show capabilities to the force?”

Navy To Begin Arming Subs With Ship-Killer Missile

Navy To Begin Arming Subs With Ship-Killer Missile
Navy To Begin Arming Subs With Ship-Killer Missile

It’s a major shift after decades in which submarines focused on projecting power ashore, with their only anti-ship weapons being their rarely-used torpedoes. Driving the change: increasing anxiety about China.

Army Picks BAE, GD For MPF Light Tank Prototypes: Upstart SAIC Is Out

Army Picks BAE, GD For MPF Light Tank Prototypes: Upstart SAIC Is Out
Army Picks BAE, GD For MPF Light Tank Prototypes: Upstart SAIC Is Out

Yes, MPF is much lighter and less heavily armored than the M1 Abrams or even Russian tanks like the T-90. But MPF is going to light infantry units that currently have no armored vehicles at all, just a handful of Humvees, towed M777 howitzers, and whatever weapons the men can carry on their backs.

Army Bradley Brigade Will Get Israeli Anti-Missile System: Iron Fist

Army Bradley Brigade Will Get Israeli Anti-Missile System: Iron Fist
Army Bradley Brigade Will Get Israeli Anti-Missile System: Iron Fist

WASHINGTON: Seeking to stop Russian-made anti-tank missiles, the US Army will buy Israel’s Iron Fist Active Protection System for a brigade of its M2 Bradley armored vehicles, Breaking Defense has learned. The decision comes after weeks of confusing statements by Army officials and months of delays fitting the high-tech active protection on a Cold War-vintage…

Show Me The Data: The Pentagon’s Two-Pronged AI Plan

Show Me The Data: The Pentagon’s Two-Pronged AI Plan
Show Me The Data: The Pentagon’s Two-Pronged AI Plan

“It’s not going to be just about , ’how do we get a lot of data?’” deputy undersecretary Lisa Porter told the House subcommittee. “It’s going to be about, how do we develop algorithms that don’t need as much data? How do we develop algorithms that we trust?”

As Pentagon Demands Cybersecurity, Industry Group Offers New Standards: AIA

As Pentagon Demands Cybersecurity, Industry Group Offers New Standards: AIA
As Pentagon Demands Cybersecurity, Industry Group Offers New Standards: AIA

As the DoD prepares to make cyber security a key pillar for what it buys — and from whom — a defense and aerospace trade group unveils a new standard that will allow companies, and the government, to see how secure contractors really are.

Adam Smith: Doubts $750B Budget, Praises Army, Downplays Yemen War Powers Bill

Adam Smith: Doubts $750B Budget, Praises Army, Downplays Yemen War Powers Bill
Adam Smith: Doubts $750B Budget, Praises Army, Downplays Yemen War Powers Bill

WASHINGTON: The presumptive House Armed Services chairman, Adam Smith outlined his agenda for reporters this morning in a wide-ranging discussion laced with his trademark tactical snark. While many of his stances were unsurprising — he wants equal treatment for transgender troops, less spending on new nuclear ICBMs, and zero border-wall funding carved out of the…

Future Vertical Lift: SB>1 Defiant Flight Delayed Until Early 2019

Future Vertical Lift: SB>1 Defiant Flight Delayed Until Early 2019
Future Vertical Lift: SB>1 Defiant Flight Delayed Until Early 2019

While Bell’s rival V-280 uses tiltrotor technology, proven in widespread service on the V-22 Osprey since 2007, the Defiant uses Sikorsky’s revolutionary compound helicopter technology, which promises superior agility — but which has only actually flown in two experimental aircraft, the X2 and S-97 Raider, both of which are much smaller than Defiant.