News
The Pentagon could send conventional military forces into Syria –
The Pentagon is developing proposals for sending an unspecified number of American military personnel into Syria, conventional ground forces who would augment the 500 combat advisers already there coordinating efforts to destroy the Islamic State.
Business
Austria sues Airbus, Eurofighter consortium over suspected fraud –
Austria filed a lawsuit Feb. 16 against Airbus and the Eurofighter consortium, alleging them of willful deception and fraud linked to a 2 billion euro ($2.1 billion) order for Eurofighter jets in 2003, the defense ministry said.
Aero India 2017: New hope for Indo-Russian fighter aircraft –
The Fifth Generation Fighter Aircraft is back on the table for co-production and shared use by Russia and India as the latter sets up a committee for a comprehensive review of the FGFA, the chairman of state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited revealed at the Aero India 2017 event in Bangalore.
Boeing’s souped-up Super Hornet adds smart U.S. Navy firepower –
As President Donald Trump signals he may reconsider the mix of F-35Cs and F/A-18s for the carrier air wing of the 2020s and beyond, Boeing is pitching an upgraded “Block 3” Super Hornet designed to add firepower and act as a smart node on the U.S. Navy’s future network.
Canadian minister defends naval project after Fincantieri criticism –
Canada says it’s satisfied with the terms of its Canadian Surface Combatant project following criticism from Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri.
Indian private sector hits roadblocks to meeting aerospace demands –
The Indian private sector’s ambitions to build large military aerospace platforms and other major systems are unrealistic because of its continued dependence on foreign original equipment manufacturers for critical technologies, according to a top Indian Ministry of Defence official.
Loral awarded DARPA contract — first from DOD in years –
Space Systems Loral has been awarded a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency contract for remote servicing of satellites.
Charted: Here’s how cost of each version of F-35 is changing –
The per-plane cost for the Navy and Marine Corps variants both rose before falling.
Defense
Lack of maintainers is fueling the Corps’ aviation crisis –
A key factor underlying the Marine Corps’ aviation crisis stems from the recent draw down of forces when droves of highly trained maintainers left the force a few years ago, according to a top Marine general.
PACAF deploys F-22s to Australia for training –
Twelve F-22 Raptors are taking a break from the Alaskan winter to spend three weeks Down Under, training with the Royal Australian Air Force.
Army, Marine Corps developing UAV for faster, safer resupply missions –
If you’ve ever wanted to call in a request for more supplies and have a UAV zip across the battlefield to you, Army researchers are working to make that happen.
Army warns Congress its budget behavior will get soldiers killed –
The last time Congress completed work on a federal budget before the new fiscal year began, my beloved twins (Matthew and Ariel) hadn’t been born. They’re sophomores in college now.
USS Zumwalt to conduct brief sea trial this week to light off radar, test recent fixes –
First-in-class destroyer USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) will head to sea this week to begin testing components of its combat system, in its first sea trial event since arriving in its homeport of San Diego in early December.
U.S. Air Force must retrofit 108 F-35As –
The U.S. Air Force’s number of F-35As in need of hardware or software retrofits has grown to 108 aircraft, and the service could deliver more fighters without Block 3F capabilities.
Veterans
Study underway on Marijuana treatment for PTSD in veterans –
The study was launched on Monday by the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies, a non-profit research organization in California.