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Blogs
Army gets first re-built and upgraded OH-58
We'll skip the military's affinity for acronyms here by saying the Army and Bell Helicopter have completed work on rebuilding and returning to service the first of an older generation of OH-58 Kiowa Warrior scout helicopters.
F-35B goes to sea
The F-35 Joijnt Strike Fighter program took a step forward and made a little aviation history with the first vertical landing by an F-35B, the shortt-takeoff, vertical-landing model destined for the Marine Corps.
Lockheed announces Fort Worth job cuts
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. will cut 670 jobs in fort Worth by the end of the year as part of an overall 1,500 position reduction in the workforce of the military aircraft division.
Report says Iraq has made down payment on F-16s
There is no official confirmation yet but the Wall Street Journal (subscription) is reporting that Iraq has made a $1.5 billion down payment on the purchase of 18 F-16 fighter jets.
Helicopters in the fight in Afghanistan
Excellent reporting and writing in a Wired piece today about the Army helicopter crews and their machines fighting and supporting ground units in Afghanistan.
State Dept: No decision on F-16s for Taiwan
The State Department just sent the following statement to the Star-Telegram about published reports that it had denied Taiwan's request to purchase 66 new F-16 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin.
F-35 ground tests to resume, but not flights
The F-35 Joint Program Office authorized a return to ground operations for the F-35 developmental test (DT) aircraft today. This is the first step in returning the F-35 fleet to full flight operations. A precautionary suspension of both ground and flight operations for the program was issued Aug. 3.
First F-35C catapult launch
Another day and another first for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter development testing program. An F-35C. the JSF carrier variant, was launched today (Wednesday) using a steam catapult like those found the Navy's aircraft carriers.
Air Force looking for easier, cheaper ways to upgrade F-22
When the F-22 was being designed by Lockheed Martin for the Air force back in the technological stone ages of the late 1980s and early 1990s, the computing industry had not yet moved to what is now known as open architecture -- the ability to connect numerous, interoperable devices from different developers.
Lockheed delivers first "production" F-35 to Air Force
The Air Force officially has its first F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter.
Air Force to hold competition for new choppers
Air Force top brass has apparently decided against a quick fix program of trying to piggyback on Army orders for new Black Hawk helicopters and will hold formal competitions for replacements for its Huey domestic transport/utility birds and another for a combat search-and-rescue craft.
Lockheed gets big missile defense contract
Lockheed Martin has received a $790 million production contract to produce the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) weapon system for the Missile Defense Agency.
DoD preparing to find billions more in spending cuts
With no 2011 budget yet approved by Congress and having just finished preparing a 2012 budget proposal, Pentagon budgeteers are back at work looking for ways to cut billions more from defense spending in 2013 and beyond.
All wet: 6-inch crack found in newest Navy ship
This is supposed to be an airlines and aerospace blog but since the latter tilts heavily towards defense that's a good enough reason to add this item.
Eurocopter details upgrades to EC145
Eurocopter and American Eurocopter released details today on the much upgraded EC145 T2 (spy photo of test aircraft above; Photoshopped press version below).
Air Force chief Schwartz worried about F-35 pace
Count Gen. Norton Schwarz, Air Force Chief of Staff, as being among those who not totally reassured by all the assurances from Lockheed Martin and the Pentagon's own Joint Strike Fighter office that the F-35 progam's problems have all ben sorted out, are understood and will get resolved.
Airbus (EADS) Responds to the Air Force´s Decision on Selecting the Boeing 767 (KC-46A)
With every competition, there will inevitably be a winner and a loser. Although there is a lot of excitement in the Seattle area that Boeing won the Air Force tanker contract with their 767 (KC-46A) aircraft, there are many in the Mobile, Alabama area who are very disappointed.
F-35 milestone. First "production" airplane flies; will go into test fleet
Lockheed Martin announced that the first production model F-35 Lightning II (the Joint Strike Fighter) made its inaugural flight Friday afternoon. The jet, AF-6, the first funded in what is known as a "low rate initial production" lot actually beat two of the flight test airplanes into the air.
Link Simulation delivers F-16 trainer to Greece
L-3 Link Simulation & Training, based in Arlington, has delivered a second F-16C Block 52 Aircrew Training Device to the Hellenic Air Force (Greece). Link, which traces its roots back to the old Hughes Aircraft, produces extremely high fidelity cockpit, full motion and mission training simulators for all types of military aircraft.
$6.9 billion saved by delays in F-35 buys
Bloomberg News reports that the Pentagon saved $6.9 billion over the next five years by cutting back on purchases of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, in order to give Lockheed Martin and the military more time and money to fix problems and get testing up to speed.