Boeing officials say the company has completed “end-to-end testing” for the Wideband Global SATCOM payload command and control system, which means the WGS is set for launch this summer. A Boeing release stated that the C2 system enabled communication from WGS ground station equipment at Paso Robles, Calif., and a WGS satellite located at Boeing’s El Segundo plant, routing the commands sent by teams at Schriever AFB, Colo., and Kirtland AFB, N.M.
Whether the F-35 fighter will get new engines from the Air Force’s cutting-edge Adaptive Engine Transition Program is a question that needs to be resolved at the Defense Department level, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told lawmakers May 17—and he anticipates an answer in the 2024 budget.