Textron’s Scorpion Heads To UK For RAF, Royal Navy Trials

Textron’s Scorpion Heads To UK For RAF, Royal Navy Trials
Textron’s Scorpion Heads To UK For RAF, Royal Navy Trials

UPDATED: Adds Details On UK Demos; QinetiQ’s PIlots Will Fly PARIS AIR SHOW: When Textron unveiled the Scorpion I will admit I was a serious sceptic. Where was the market? Who were the likely customers? Why did they spend their own money on such a venture? The first crack in my skepticism occurred when Gen. Hawk…

Carlisle Spurns More Growlers For EW; Cool To V-22s

Carlisle Spurns More Growlers For EW; Cool To V-22s
Carlisle Spurns More Growlers For EW; Cool To V-22s

WASHINGTON: The Air Force is considering buying V-22s for search and rescue work, but Gen. Hawk Carlisle, head of Air Combat Command, made it pretty clear this morning that an Osprey buy has to come after the service buys the first 112 of the Sikorsky-built Combat Rescue Helicopters. Gen. Mark Welsh, Air Force Chief of Staff,…

Close Air Support Summit Sparks Nod To Textron’s Scorpion

Close Air Support Summit Sparks Nod To Textron’s Scorpion
Close Air Support Summit Sparks Nod To Textron’s Scorpion

PENTAGON: Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh. Marine Commandant Gen. Joseph Dunford. National Guard Bureau Chief Army Gen. Frank Grass. Gen. Hawk Carlisle, head of Air Force Air Combat Command. That’s a lot of stars and command authority gathered in one place and they all came together at…

Air Force To Hold Close Air Support Summit; May Need New Weapon

Air Force To Hold Close Air Support Summit; May Need New Weapon
Air Force To Hold Close Air Support Summit; May Need New Weapon

ORLANDO: The Air Force, under heavy pressure from Congress to keep the A-10 Warthog in the air, will hold a mini-summit with the Army, Navy and Marines to figure out the best ways to do Close Air Support, the politically sensitive mission of aircraft protecting troops on the ground. Gen. Hawk Carlisle, head of Air Combat…

Air Force, Riding Budget Boost, Warns On Sequester; U-2 Is BACK!

Air Force, Riding Budget Boost, Warns On Sequester; U-2 Is BACK!
Air Force, Riding Budget Boost, Warns On Sequester; U-2 Is BACK!

PENTAGON: We won’t know much about it, but protecting America’s military satellites and the data they gather and share is a key target of the 2016 service budget. Several senior Pentagon budget wallahs declined in the top-level budget briefings today to answer specific questions about the spending levels of what is known as Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and…

Gen. Carlisle ‘Extremely Concerned’ About Drone Force

Gen. Carlisle ‘Extremely Concerned’ About Drone Force
Gen. Carlisle ‘Extremely Concerned’ About Drone Force

WASHINGTON: The Air Force has worried for almost a decade about the strains on its workforce as it fields more and more Predators, because drones need more people to fly them than do manned aircraft. Now, the head of Air Combat Command has told his boss, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh, that he is “extremely concerned” about…

PACAF Gen. Carlisle Warns China On New Air Defense Zones; Russians Pushing in Pacific Too

PACAF Gen. Carlisle Warns China On New Air Defense Zones; Russians Pushing in Pacific Too
PACAF Gen. Carlisle Warns China On New Air Defense Zones; Russians Pushing in Pacific Too

WASHINGTON: Pacific Air Forces commander Gen. Hawk Carlisle, who has come to serve as a key Pentagon spokesman on Chinese issues, told several hundred insiders that China may be considering creation of two new Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZ) and warned the rising power against any such move. “You also have potential for either a…

Pacific Needs Better Allied, US Air-Missile Integration: PACAF Gen. Carlisle

Pacific Needs Better Allied, US Air-Missile Integration: PACAF Gen. Carlisle
Pacific Needs Better Allied, US Air-Missile Integration: PACAF Gen. Carlisle

 After a week of discussions with Pacific Air Forces staff, Robbin Laird sat down in Hawaii with Hawk Carlisle, their commander. The conversation took place just after the North Koreans had fired missiles into South Korean waters during an allied exercise for the defense of South Korea. Laird, a member of our Board of Contributors, is…