Having successfully completed the most extensive flight tests in history, the F-35 fighter is well on its way to setting the global standard for tactical air power. Nearly 500 of the planes in three different variants will be delivered by year’s end. But rather than commending program managers and contractors for an extraordinary accomplishment, critics have seamlessly transitioned to questioning how much it costs to operate the fighter. The new complaint is based less on real information that on the [ Read More…]

The U.S. Army is strengthening its forces in Europe in response to a growing military threat from Russia. A key feature of that effort is deployment of a more lethal version of the Stryker armored troop carrier. Stryker provides troops with mobility and protection; now it will also deliver enhanced firepower. Lexington Institute senior fellow Kris Osborn has written a commentary about the Army’s Stryker initiative for Fox News that you can read here.

U.S. amphibious warfare forces are this Nation’s first line of defense. They are a unique strategic and operational capability. The demand for amphibious warfare forces by Combatant Commanders routinely exceeds their availability. At present, the U.S. has 32 amphibious warfare ships of all classes. It needs, at a minimum, 38. To achieve this goal rapidly and efficiently, the Navy should move to acquire amphibious warfare ships the way it does aircraft carriers, submarines and other surface ships, by contracting for [ Read More…]

There have been several recent strong warnings about the dangers of cyberattacks on the electric grid along with positive defensive developments. Continued vigilance is imperative. Lexington Institute’s Paul Steidler has written a commentary for InsideSources about this topic here.

The Army has decided to delay by five years upgrading its Chinook heavy helicopters to a planned Block II configuration. As a result, there will be a big gap in the production line at Boeing’s rotorcraft plant near Philadelphia, and nothing to fill it. Many hundreds of jobs are potentially at risk, and that’s before we even get to the subcontractors. By reducing the pace of work at the plant, the Army will assure that (1) the price of Chinooks [ Read More…]

The Navy’s Trident II D5 missile isn’t just a vital part of the nation’s nuclear triad, it is arguably the most important part. Enemies can target our bomber bases and missile silos in a surprise attack, but they can’t find ballistic missile submarines once they go beneath the waves. That means the D5 missiles carried on those subs are the most survivable part of the triad — the weapons that are assured of the capacity to retaliate, and thus are [ Read More…]

“God fights on the side with the best artillery,” said Napoleon Bonaparte. This aphorism appears as true today as it did almost three centuries ago. What has changed over the past several decades is the capability of Army fires, artillery and rockets vis-a-vis potential adversaries. Simply put, the U.S. Army is out-gunned and out-ranged. The leadership of the U.S. Army is responding to the challenge by expending significant effort and resources to close these capability gaps. Long-range precision fires is [ Read More…]

Although the Air Force is destined to eventually receive over two-thirds of the tri-service F-35 fighters destined for U.S. users, there is growing concern that its planes are being bought too slowly. Unless the current rate of production is accelerated, in 2030 half of the Air Force fighter fleet will still consist of non-stealthy aircraft developed during the Cold War. These legacy fighters would be much less likely to survive combat with a near-peer adversary than the F-35. So now [ Read More…]

The nation’s leading independent provider of aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul services has launched a major initiative to attract more talent to the sector. Called the Eagle Pathways program, the initiative is aimed at facilitating access to technical careers in a field that will need 189,000 new specialists in North America over the next 20 years. AAR Corporation CEO John Holmes says the initiative is necessary because nearly a third of aircraft maintenance technicians are likely to retire in the [ Read More…]

The U.S. Navy is moving ahead to acquire a new frigate or FFG(X). Last year, it awarded five contracts for conceptual designs to Austal USA, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Fincantieri Marine and Huntington Ingalls. The U.S. Navy has made it quite apparent that it is looking for a highly capable, multi-mission combatant but that it wants it “on the cheap.” The Navy may be unintentionally forgoing an option for a propulsion system that would provide benefits for [ Read More…]