We reported the QDR-2007 budget demise of USAF’s E-10 all-in-one ISR platform (all but a test aircraft) and the Airborne Laser. It seems USAF leaders decided they also could do without the Electric B-52. Defense analyst Loren Thompson says the Air Force now thinks a B-52 jammer would not make a suitable mate for strike aircraft. (Just a few months ago, the service was poised to name an industry integrator.) USAF wants a “faster, more survivable” bird, says Thompson, adding that the new likely contender is a modified F-15E.
Air Force and Army leaders recently reached an agreement to partner more closely on joint all-domain command and control over the next two years. The services are still scoping out how to pursue a common data standard, and haven’t chosen specific systems or platforms to collaborate on or launched new…