Air Force Research Lab also issued a contract—this one just over $231 million—to General Electric for work on its revolutionary engine program, dubbed Adaptive Versatile Engine Technology. As with the contract awarded to Rolls Royce, AFRL expects the work to be done by September 2012 on this hunt to find greater fuel efficiency and thrust and reduced maintenance and production cost.
The Air Force is moving forward with a new, algorithm-driven system to help U.S. Northern Command better detect airborne threats. NORTHCOM and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which are tasked with protecting the homeland from attack, depend on a slew of radars and other data systems to monitor U.S.…