Daily Report

May 11, 2016

Betting on the Bomber

The B-21 bomber is a “good business deal” for Northrop Grumman, but the details of the deal are still being worked out, Pentagon acquisition, technology, and logistics chief Frank Kendall said Tuesday. Bidding on the bomber was “very aggressive,” he...

Protest-Proofing and the Business Case

The Pentagon has done a good job in recent years explaining to contractors exactly how much it’s willing to pay for capability, and exactly how much more it’s willing to pay for better capability, Defense acquisition chief Frank Kendall asserted...

B-21 Nickname Down to a List of 15

The future name of the new B-21 bomber is down to 15 contenders. The Air Force Global Strike Command leadership chose the list of its favorites from the more than 4,600 entries received during a service-wide contest to name the...

Frank’s Insomnia

It’s not the acquisition system that most worries the Pentagon’s chief buyer, it’s how fast America’s adversaries are catching up technologically. “I stay awake at night … worried more about air superiority than how we do business,” Pentagon acquisition, technology,...

Rice Takes Reigns of Air National Guard

Lt. Gen. Scott Rice pinned on his third star and assumed his new role as director of the Air National Guard on Tuesday. Rice, who previously served as the adjutant general of the Massachusetts National Guard, replaced Maj. Gen. Brian...

Hill F-35s Fly in Formation

F-35As at the Air Force’s first operational Lightning II base have started flying sorties in standard training formation to get ready for initial operational capability later this year. The jets, on May 2, began flying in routine four-ship combat training...

Cross-Generation Talk

The Air Force is flight testing a device that will allow the F-15C Eagle and F-22 Raptor to exchange data. The podded system—dubbed the Talon HATE—is mounted on the fourth generation aircraft and will allow it to receive and translate...

Be Resilient

Resiliency will be the the new metric to measure Air Force Space Command’s ability to wage combat. AFSPC boss Gen. John Hyten focused on the characteristic in his 2016 Strategic Intent document. “Any capability that cannot survive when facing the...

Extenders Mark 25 Years in Middle East

The KC-10 Extender recently marked 25 years of continuous operations in the US Central Command area of responsibility. Extenders first deployed to the region in 1991 to begin refueling aircraft conducting operations in the region, and they continue to support...