Daily Report

March 25, 2015

US Posture in Afghanistan Won’t Change in 2015

At the request of Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani, President Obama announced Tuesday the US would maintain its current posture of 9,800 troops in the country through 2015. “The specific trajectory of the 2016 drawdown will be established later this year...

JSF Criticism Fatigue

The Joint Strike Fighter program is routinely derided for problems either long in the past or simply not true, and “I’m tired of this,” Program Manager Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan said Tuesday. Speaking with reporters in his Arlington, Va., offices,...

“Workarounds” for F-35B IOC

Despite recently discovered deficiencies in the 2B iteration of software, the Marine Corps will likely declare initial operating capability with the F-35 in July as planned, Joint Strike Fighter Program Director Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan said Tuesday. Speaking to reporters...

Fixed and Waiting to be Fixed

Most of the problems critics have trumpeted as indications of the “failure” of the F-35 program are fixed or nearly so, and are “not even on my top-10 worry list,” Joint Strike Fighter Program Director Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan said...

The F-35 Lifetime Channel

Lt. Gen. Christopher Bogdan, Joint Strike Fighter program director, said all three versions of the F-35 will be durability tested to three lifetimes because it’s almost certain the jets will serve longer than the planned 30 years. Speaking with reporters...

Panel Completes First Phase of Space Launch Review

An independent panel has completed the first-phase review of the Air Force’s process for certifying California-based SpaceX as an Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle provider, according to a March 23 Air Force announcement. The panel, led by former Chief of Staff...

Building a Good Fence

Lockheed Martin began construction on the Space Fence ground-based orbital tracking radar at Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, with a groundbreaking earlier this month, the company announced. “The number of small satellites and satellite operators around the world is...

5,000 Scrambles and Counting

District of Columbia Air National Guard aerospace control alert F-16s recently scrambled for the 5,000th time since Sept. 11, 2001, in defense of the nation’s capital, unit officials announced. “Every day that we come down here to the alert facilities...

B-29 Redelivered 71 Years Later

The World’s second airworthy B-29 Superfortress was ceremoniously rolled out of its restoration hangar and “redelivered” 71 years to the day after its original hand-over to the Army Air Forces—once again in Wichita, Kan., on March 23. “Many of us,...

Organizers Unveil Paris Airshow Plans

The 51st International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget, France, is expected to attract 2,215 exhibitors, 150 aircraft, and upwards of 139,000 trade visitors before the show even opens to the public, said Gilles Fournier, managing director of the show,...