News
Number of U.S. troops deployed to Iraq likely to increase –
Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said Tuesday that the number of U.S. troops deployed to Iraq will likely increase, citing the recent success in taking the city of Ramadi back from the Islamic State and a need to train more Iraqi military and police units as the campaign against the militants expands.
Business
Northrop will fly T-X prototype this year –
Northrop Grumman intends to fly a prototype of the company’s T-X concept early this year, in anticipation of an upcoming Air Force competition to replace the aging T-38 fleet used for advanced jet training.
Pentagon eyes laser-armed drones to shoot down ballistic missiles –
The high-flying aircraft would be the unmanned successors to the Air Force’s missile-zapping jetliner.
U.K. arms sold to Saudi Arabia may breach international law in Yemen, Labour says –
Labour is calling for the urgent re-establishment of parliament’s watchdog on arms exports to investigate whether British weapons sold to Saudi Arabia are breaching international humanitarian law in Yemen.
3D database to improve simulated flight training –
Rockwell Collins has unveiled a synthetic database to model environments across the globe that will reduce simulated training costs while improving military readiness, according to a company executive.
U.K. studies future helicopter requirements out to 2045 –
The Joint Helicopter Command (JHC) has carried out a study to determine how best to meet the UK’s future rotary requirements out to the middle part of the century, a senior official said Jan. 18.
DARPA investing in vanishing air vehicles –
Air vehicles delivering critical supplies to ground troops could soon simply disappear into thin air after dropping their payload, reducing troops’ environmental footprint.
Indonesia to export first ever warship –
The first locally-built strategic sealift vessel will be delivered to the Philippines in May.
Bell’s Valor tiltrotor comes together ahead of 2017 first flight –
Bell Helicopter is on track to conduct the first flight of its V-280 Valor tiltrotor next year, as the technology demonstrator prototype begins assembly at its Amarillo production facility in Texas, a company representative said Jan. 18.
Mauritania deploys new armored vehicles for peacekeeping mission –
Mauritania has acquired Turkish-made Otokar Cobra armored vehicles, it was revealed when President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz inspected a battalion before it joined the UN mission in the Central African Republic Jan. 12.
Defense
U.S. Army struggling to keep up with needed flying hours –
The U.S. Army continues to struggle to get all of its pilots the flying hours they need for training stateside due to budgetary constraints and amid the high operational tempo of rotary wing units, Maj. Gen. Michael Lundy, the Army’s Aviation Center of Excellence commander, said.
Army tests Manpack radio-MUOS satellite connection –
The AN/PRC-155 MUOS-Manpack radio has successfully demonstrated voice and data communications with Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellites.
Air Force facing budgetary train wreck –
Absent a major increase in topline funding, the Air Force acquisition budget will experience a crunch in the 2020s, analysts said.
More Air Force drones are crashing than ever as new problems emerge –
A record number of Air Force drones crashed in major accidents last year, documents show, straining the U.S. military’s fleet of robotic aircraft when it is in more demand than ever for counterterrorism missions in an expanding array of war zones.
This is most important technology on F-35 –
Cognitive EW, today in its infancy, may one day justify the Joint Strike Fighter’s enormous cost.
U.S. Air Force faces cost conundrum with F-35, KC-46, LRS-B –
In 1986 during the so-called Reagan Build-up, $12 billion delivered 387 new combat aircraft to the U.S. military. Today, that amount buys fewer than 80.
Veterans
Veteran blood bank may play key role in cancer ‘Moon shot’ –
Veterans are likely to play a significant part in what has been called “the Moon shot” in cancer research — the plan announced by President Barack Obama last week for a cancer fight effort to equal the country’s determination to put a man on the moon during the 1960s.
