Boeing officials told defense reporters in Orlando that they’ve been a bit puzzled over some of the chatter regarding the HH-47 CSAR win—Clinton Horn, Boeing’s director of business development for its defense programs, said the new CSAR aircraft is a souped-up version of US Special Operations Command’s MH-47G Chinook variant and should not be treated as a “heavy lift tandem-rotor” helicopter. The Chinook, after all, has more combat experience than the “other bidders have flying hours,” Horn noted. The program will be ramping up its capabilities in Block 10 in 2009, including a completely new rotor system, said Rick Lemaster, Boeing HH-47 program director. Rotor work is ongoing at the company’s Ridley Park, Pa. facility and will focus on improving the lift, speed, and range of the aircraft. “We want to get a better, more responsive aircraft,” Lemaster said.
Recent Russian and Chinese tests of space weapons are a "natural consequence of military behaviors," and the U.S. must now "mitigate this threat," the Space Force's operations chief said. “When you are behind, you look for ways to seek vulnerabilities of your adversary and your competitor so that you can…