Science & Tech

At Long Last, the F-35 and F-22 Might Talk to Each Other

And once service officials can digitally link two of the military’s stealthiest platforms, they’re going to try to link everything else.

Science & Tech

The Air Force’s ‘Doomsday Plane’ Is in the Shop

The E-4B, a plane that would quarterback a nuclear war, has lost its secondary mission as the SecDef’s main long-haul ride.

Business

Price of F-35 Falls, But Not as Much As Pentagon Hoped

Defense officials say the cost of the plane’s engine is not declining as much as the airframe itself. The engine maker says it already dropped by half.

Business

$85B Nuclear Missile Competition Gets Messier as Feds Investigate Northrop

Boeing is breaking up its ICBM team — just as the Federal Trade Commission begins looking into the company's allegations that Northrop wasn't playing fair.

Threats

Trump’s STRATCOM Pick Declines to Endorse Open-Skies Withdrawal

The Trump administration is weighing pulling out of the 1992 surveillance agreement amid complaints that Russia is out of compliance.

Defense Systems

How the Air Force upgraded cyber testing for weapons systems

Air Force Materiel Command's 96th Test Wing is modernizing the way the service tests weapons systems for cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

Ideas

Will America's Next Long-Range Air-to-Air Missile Match Up to China's?

The Air Force says the AIM-260 won't be powered by a ramjet. Does it have another trick up its sleeve?

Business

Just One Bidder Is Vying for Two Pentagon Programs Worth $130 Billion

The defense acquisition chief is looking into the Army’s disqualification of a second bidder to replace Bradley armored vehicles.

Science & Tech

Meet the US Air Force's 1st Chief Experience Officer

The service hired digital consultant Colt Whittall to improve the digital tools that airmen use to fix things and fight.

Business

New Tech Aims to Tell Pilots When Their Plane Has Been Hacked

Raytheon is pitching a product to detect cyber intrusions into aircraft, drones, and even missiles.

Ideas

An Old Idea Could Bring Anti-Aircraft Missiles of Unprecedented Capability

Ramjet SAMs promise interceptions at altitudes and distances far beyond today’s defenses.

Ideas

The Air Force's Kessel Run Is the John Travolta of Defense Acquisitions

Right now, the much-hyped software-development office is doing fine work. Let’s remember that when the inevitable backlash arrives.

Defense Systems

Air Force unveils 10-year cyber warfare plan

In tandem with creating a new information warfare command, the Air Force released a new strategy to address digital warfare over the next decade.

Defense Systems

Air Force announces new information warfare entity

After some delay, the Air Combat Command will combine its 24th (cyber) and 25th (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) Numbered Air Forces into one.

Defense Systems

Air Force prepares cyber audit

The Air Force has been undergoing a comprehensive cyber audit modeled on the Navy's review, and is preparing to show findings to the Pentagon.

Business

USAF: Our New Tanker Should Be Ready for War in 3 or 4 Years

A few big problems, and about 500 smaller ones, have put the Boeing-made plane about five years behind schedule.