News
Mattis says peace talks with the Taliban are underway –
Secretary of Defense James Mattis said Aug. 7 that peace talks are underway to end the 17-year-old war in Afghanistan.
Mattis supportive of new combatant command for space operations –
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis seems to have reversed course on his previous stance against a Space Force, telling reporters Aug. 7 that the Defense Department is supportive of establishing a new combatant command for space.
Business
Lockheed-Dynetics team, Raytheon locked in battle to build 100-kilowatt laser for U.S. Army –
Raytheon and a Lockheed Martin-Dynetics team are now locked in a head-to-head battle to build a powerful 100-kilowatt laser for the U.S. Army, pushing the envelope on directed-energy capability development.
JEDI cloud contract receives first protest –
Oracle has filed the first protest of the Department of Defense’s $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud contract, less than two weeks after the agency issued its final request for proposals.
Aerojet Rocketdyne successfully tests rocket booster for hypersonic vehicle –
Aerojet Rocketdyne successfully completed two hot-fire tests of a rocket motor designed to boost an air-launched tactical glide hypersonic vehicle during its initial phase of flight.
Lockheed Martin claims both U.S. Air Force hypersonic programs –
The U.S. Air Force has selected Lockheed Martin to rapidly develop and field both new hypersonic missiles launched as a response to surprise developments in high-speed weapons by China and Russia, newly-released acquisition documents confirm.
Raytheon builds massive radar development facility complete with robotic helpers –
Raytheon has built a new massive radar development facility — complete with robotic helpers — to assemble and test its newest radars, but the facility’s design will take the company’s radar work well into the future.
Japan confirms development of electromagnetic railgun –
The Japanese Ministry of Defense’s Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) released video footage on 31 July showing a small-caliber developmental electromagnetic (EM) railgun along with related support and test equipment.
These satellites are communicating way faster thanks to lasers –
The Aerospace Corporation announced Aug. 2 that its laser communication system had successfully transmitted data at a rate 50 times greater than the typical rate for similar communication systems.
Defense
Army uses RIMPAC to give this new task force its first real-world tryout –
After years of developing a new way to link all the services in a fight across domains, the Army put its concept into action in the first-ever field exercise testing Multi-Domain Operations.
AC-130 gunships are using this rifle sight to ‘zero-in’ on bad guys –
An AC-130W Stinger II, one of the newest variants of the lethal gunships known for providing a stream of accurate air-to-ground fire support, was filmed recently on a mission over Syria sporting a holographic rifle sight.
Air Force seeks pilots who want to fly the new KC-46 refueling tanker –
The KC-46 is (hopefully) almost here, and that means the Air Force needs pilots to fly the refueling tanker when it arrives.
Veterans
Remains of World War II flyer coming home for Nebraska burial –
A military agency says the correct remains of a Gage County, Nebraska, man who died when his aircraft was shot down during World War II are being returned home for burial.