News
F-35A catches fire at Mountain Home Air Force Base –
An F-35A caught fire during an exercise at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, the Air Force confirmed to Defense News.
Business
CACI awarded $77 million special operations contract –
CACI has been awarded a $77 million contract to provide communications for U.S. Special Operations.
Next-gen U.S. military helicopters prepare for 2017 flights –
The U.S. Army’s Joint Multirole-Technology Demonstrator (JMR-TD)/Future Vertical Lift effort is moving towards first flights in 2017, but meanwhile is focused on crucial system architecture demonstrations.
Full speed ahead for Navy expeditionary fast transports –
Now that the U.S. Navy has decided on a new name for its joint high-speed vessels, it’s time to start building them — and for military shipbuilder Austal USA, to start profiting from them.
Defense
Air Force grounds four JSTARS over maintenance concerns –
The U.S. Air Force has grounded four of its limited JSTARS aircraft over concerns about maintenance work performed at the Northrop Grumman-led depot, Defense News has learned.
Marine Corps to upgrade aging LAVs while searching for a replacement –
The Marine Corps’ light armored vehicles qualify for antique license plates in most states, but the service is planning to upgrade half the fleet and keep them in service until 2035 while it searches for a next-generation replacement.
Veterans
For those with the often solitary task of caring for disabled vets, help is on the way –
Spouses, parents, family and friends who care for disabled troops or veterans soon will have a new resource to lean on for support, inspiration and confidence when they need it.
Space
Did something hit SpaceX rocket before it exploded? –
SpaceX says a breach in the helium cooling system of the upper oxygen tank of its Falcon 9 rocket may have been behind the explosion that destroyed it on the launch pad earlier this month.
Is there water lurking beneath Pluto’s surface? –
Since NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft reached Pluto last July, a new picture of the dwarf planet has been painted.
World’s largest radio telescope starts operating in China –
In the search for alien life, China has built the world’s biggest radio telescope, which it says could ‘lead to discoveries beyond our imagination.’
SpaceX test fires its Raptor interplanetary engine –
It may still be recovering from the loss of a rocket on the launch pad earlier this month, but SpaceX is determined to press ahead with plans to send humans into space.