Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told lawmakers Thursday that the service will make a decision on buying the hypersonic weapon after its prototyping phase concludes, a position seemingly at odds with testimony previously provided by the service’s acquisition lead.
By Michael MarrowBAE Systems’ LR-PGK: The Superior Anti-Jam Solution
Going the distance to defeat emerging jam threats.
Air Force acquisition chief Andrew Hunter indicated he was leaning toward buying 75 more KC-46A tankers as a bridge to an accelerated next-gen program.
By Michael Marrow
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Through its open systems architecture and agile software development, the E-7 provides rapid, affordable capability growth to remain a critical asset as threats evolve.
By BOEING
The test could pave the way for ARRW to be put into production by its manufacturer Lockheed Martin as early as fiscal 2024 — if the weapon’s capabilities can overcome the reservations of certain top Air Force leaders, that is.
By Valerie Insinna
The first B-21 is set to make its inaugural flight in 2023, but the public will get to finally see it in December.
By Valerie Insinna
“I’m worried about the small supplier who signed a firm, fixed-price contract. It’s got 50 employees, and all of a sudden is dealing with 11 percent, inflation,” said Pentagon acquisition executive Bill LaPlante. “How do we deal with that company? We don’t want those companies to go out of business.”
By Valerie Insinna
The US Air Force hopes to develop and field autonomous combat drones that would augment piloted fighters “in the mid to late 2020s,” Andrew Hunter, the Air Force’s top acquisition official, said in August.
By Valerie Insinna
Modernizing our supply chain is a national security imperative
Closing supply chain gaps in innovating technology will reposition the industrial base to be a strategic source of value.
“The concern I would have would be on our ability to deliver on a collaborative combat aircraft system to complement [Next Generation Air Dominance],” said Air Force acquisition executive Andrew Hunter. “It would limit our ability to dedicate people and resources to an aggressive effort to field that capability.”
By Valerie Insinna
So far, Boeing has lost $1.1 billion dollars on its original $3.9 billion fixed-price development contract for the VC-25B.
By Valerie Insinna
“We have learned a ton of lessons, especially around contracting,” said Boeing Defense CEO Ted Cobert. “We’re working together to make sure that anything we do going forward will heighten the probability of getting things done in a timely manner.”
By Valerie Insinna
“You obviously don’t wouldn’t buy something that doesn’t work. But even if it does work, it’s got to be it’s got to be the right contribution to the overall weapons mix,” said Andrew Hunter, the Air Force’s acquisition executive.
By Valerie Insinna
Preliminary results show that the eight person slate led by Aerojet CEO Eileen Drake captured about 75% of shareholder votes.
By Valerie Insinna
“You get this dynamic, where [companies] become very focused on, ‘We need to finish, we’re going to finish what’s in the contract, anything that appears to us to be in any way, shape, or form not 100% required explicitly in the contract is an extra bill,'” Air Force acquisition executive Andrew Hunter said.
By Valerie Insinna
The major driver of the delay is the bankruptcy of GDC Technics, Boeing’s original subcontractor for the VC-25B’s interiors, and the hiring of a new interior supplier, said Andrew Hunter, the Air Force’s assistant secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics.
By Valerie Insinna
