By Murielle Delaporte French forces appear to have succeeded in Mali. They blunted the mad progress of Islamist forces during Operation Serval for those who don’t know, the serval is a gorgeous, sleek and fast African cat known for grabbing hidden prey from rocks and holes) drove them back to the northern mountains and seem to have broken the…
Enterprise-wide training: the Army’s $3.5B program for multi-service combat readiness
The competition for Warfighter Training and Readiness Solutions will bring together training networks, combat training centers and live ranges across the DoD enterprise.
Boeing gets $2 billion, 5-year "performance-based logistics" contract to sustain C-17 airlifter: http://bit.ly/Th6xPX SydneyFreedberg
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.FARNBOROUGH AIR SHOW: This is it. We are wrapping up our coverage of the 2012 show. The grey and wet skies that blanketed the show for most of the week stand as a metaphor for the defense business. One industry observer, with more than 20 years of air shows under his belt, told me this…
By Colin ClarkFARNBOROUGH AIR SHOW: The sun shone — sometimes. Well, once in a while. But regardless of the weather here crowds turned out to watch the planes, especially the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Its sleek composite frame complemented the subtle bend of the wings as the plane took off and banked. The 787’s pilot was praised by…
By Colin ClarkWASHINGTON: Both chambers of Congress have resoundingly rejected the administration’s proposed cuts to the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve – but the language that the House passed is so sweeping that it may inadvertently block the modernization of the very Guard and Reserve forces it was written to protect, according to Hill sources…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.WASHINGTON: The military Reserves and National Guard have spent a decade operating with unprecedented intensity alongside the regular active-duty force in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now, as budget cuts loom, their leaders are fighting hard to keep the funding needed to keep their edge in both training and equipment. Going back to the sleepy days of…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.
Future inevitability of quantum computers is a security problem today
‘Store Now, Decrypt Later’ attacks must be thwarted now with Zero Trust cybersecurity.
HARTFORD, CT: Aircraft engine maker Pratt & Whitney proudly predicts it will double its revenues this decade from $12 billion in 2010 to $24 billion in 2020 — but the company admits it will have to get through some lean years first. On both the commercial and military sides, key Pratt & Whitney programs are…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.PRATT & WHITNEY ENGINE PLANT, MIDDLETOWN, CONN.: [updated 9:05 am Wednesday with comment from Pratt & Whitney President David Hess] This factory builds jet engines for high-performance fighters — an engine a week for the F-35 alone — but the armed forces might want to take a look at an innovation on Pratt & Whitney’s…
By Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.So how many aircraft does it take to move the world’s largest military force? Not as many as many as you would think, the Pentagon says. In what has at times seemed like a long-running bad joke, filled with terms like ‘floors’, ‘ceilings’ and ‘sweet spots’, the Pentagon has finally capped its strategic airlift requirement…
By Carlo Munoz
Air Force Cuts Mean Service Is ‘Slowly Going Out of Business’
A year has passed since Congress passed and President Obama signed into law the Budget Control Act-the legislation mandating sequestration. Funding cuts that once seemed politically remote now loom large for leaders increasingly anxious about the impact $1.2 trillion in automatic budget reductions will have upon their respective districts and states. An estimated two million…
By Mackenzie Eaglen