Daily Report

Sept. 10, 2015

Balancing F-35 Modifications, Training

The Air Force’s F-35s need a number of modifications before they are combat ready, but the biggest problem the Joint Strike Fighter program is having is finding ways to get the aircraft modified while still training enough pilots to be...

JSF “Myth Busting”

The program executive officer for the F-35 joint program office shot down some “myths” about the Joint Strike Fighter program Sept. 9 during a speech in Washington, D.C. While most news reports about the program mention cost overruns, the last...

Russia Confirms Military Buildup in Syria

Reversing its earlier denials, the Russian foreign ministry has confirmed the country is sending both technical advisors and equipment to the besieged government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as it struggles to fend off rebels seeking his ouster in the...

Spotlight: MSgt. Joseph Bogdan

MSgt. Joseph Bogdan, the noncommissioned officer-in-charge at the Airman and Family Readiness Center at Travis AFB, Calif., is one of the Air Force’s 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year for 2015. Bogdan led 17 airmen through 10 diverse Social Service...

Spatial Disorientation Led to Fatal F-16 Crash

An F-16C pilot lost visual contact with the lead aircraft in his formation and suffered from spatial disorientation during maneuvers, which led to the fatal crash of the fighter into the Gulf of Mexico on Nov. 6, 2014, according to...

Ex-Comptroller: Congress Must Act Soon on Budget

It looks like the US is “again sailing into troubled budgetary waters,” the former Pentagon comptroller said during a panel at the ComDef conference in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. However, there is still time for Congress to make a deal,...

Kendall Sounds Alarm on Investments

The greatest threat to the Defense Department is not Russia or China, but Washington, D.C., said Frank Kendall, the under?secretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics, on Wednesday. Political gridlock blocking the Pentagon from getting a reasonable defense budget...

Make it Short, Please

If a continuing resolution is absolutely necessary, as some lawmakers have indicated, the Defense Department is urging Congress to make it as short as possible. “The shorter the better,” said Frank Kendall, under?secretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics,...