Under the category of things missed, we report that the Air Force Research Lab’s Directed Energy Directorate at Kirtland AFB, N.M., last month received the Air Force’s Modeling and Simulation Experimentation Award for 2006. A team of five (leader Rudy Martinez, 1st Lt. Joseph Friel, Brian Spanbauer, Beth Nayder, and Linda Lamberson) won the award for their work in advancing experimentation wargaming by employing high-energy lasers, high-power microwaves, and other models of DE weapons in warfighting simulations.
Congress wants new engines in the F-35 fleet, with installs starting in 2027, according to language in the conference version of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. The Air Force is to use at least one of the engines developed under the Advanced Engine Transition Program, but the Navy and…