News
Officials: US to send about 1,000 more troops to Poland-
The U.S. is expected to announce June 12 that it will send about 1,000 additional troops and a squadron of Reaper drones to Poland to beef up the nation’s ability to defend itself amid worries about Russian military activity, U.S. officials said.
Up to 1,400 unaccompanied immigrant children could be coming to Fort Sill-
Unaccompanied minor immigrant children will be coming to Fort Sill, Okla., to be temporarily housed, officials with the Department of Health and Human Services told Military Times.
Business
Raytheon’s Tom Kennedy, UTC’s Greg Hayes on why they are uniting the companies-
When Raytheon and United Technologies Corporation made a surprise announcement Sunday that they would be merging together, it sent shockwaves through the defense and aviation sectors. The combined firm will likely become the second largest player in the defense world, with major stake in the commercial aviation realm as well.
Sikorsky gets $542M Navy contract to build 6 new presidential helicopters-
The winner of the next presidential election will be the first to fly in one of six new helicopters built for the commander in chief.
Investor Ackman opposes United Technologies’ aerospace merger with Raytheon: source-
Billionaire investor William Ackman’s activist hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management LP is opposing United Technologies Corp’s planned $120 billion aerospace merger with defense contractor Raytheon, a person familiar with the matter said June 11.
Pentagon has limited clout on Raytheon-United Technologies deal-
Raytheon’s planned merger with United Technologies Corp. is under Pentagon review even though military leaders won’t get to make the call on approving one of the biggest defense industry deals ever.
Defense
When the F-35 blows a tire, it can set off a chain reaction of potential failures-
The problem has been fixed in the carrier variant, but why aren’t the “A” and “B” models getting the same correction?
A fix is coming for a problem that left two F-35 pilots in ‘excruciating’ pain –
Oxygen deprivation isn’t the only issue known to cause physiological episodes among F-35 pilots.
Two F-35 partners threatened to quit the program. Here’s why they didn’t-
How serious were the problems? Serious enough that a couple countries threatened to pull out of the program, according to U.S. Defense Department documents.
Marine Corps’ ‘No. 1 priority’ for the F-35 involves a rough landing in hot environments-
When it’s a hot one, the F-35B might struggle to land safely. And that could be bad news for industry.
When U.S. Navy, Marine F-35 pilots most need performance, aircraft becomes erratic-
The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps’ F-35s become unpredictable to handle when executing the kind of extreme maneuvers a pilot would use in a dogfight or while avoiding a missile.
F-35 has to keep landing in cold weather. Here’s the plan to fix it-
The F-35 battery is getting too cold to operate in Alaska — or it at least thinks it is.
Amid ‘green glow’ concerns, another issue has emerged for pilots flying the F-35 at night-
During low-light conditions, the F-35s night vision camera display starts showing wonky horizontal lines across the screen that obstruct the pilot’s view of the horizon.
Inventory management failures are grounding F-35 jets-
The F-35 relies on a key piece of software for maintenance, but that system isn’t working the way it should.
U.S. Navy is seeking upgrades for the F-35 radar’s sea-search mode-
Giving the Navy what it wants will be a matter of boosting computing power and upgrading software. So where would that come from?
FAQ: Your guide to understanding how the military rates F-35 technical shortfalls-
Confused about what it means for the F-35 to have a deficiency? We have your primer here.
Pentagon is battling the clock to fix serious, unreported F-35 problems-
Defense News exclusively obtained documents detailing the F-35 jet’s most serious deficiencies.
Supersonic speeds could cause big problems for the F-35?s stealth coating-
Supersonic flight at the edge of the F-35 jet’s flight envelope could cause structural damage or degrade its stealth coating, warn documents exclusively obtained by Defense News.
Why it’s taking so long to confirm Trump’s defense secretary choice-
President Donald Trump announced Patrick Shanahan as his pick to lead the Pentagon a month ago, but his confirmation hearing is likely still a few weeks away.
Trump still hasn’t officially nominated Patrick Shanahan more than a month after saying he would-
It has been more than a month since President Donald Trump announced on May 9 that he would nominate Patrick Shanahan to officially become defense secretary – and nothing has happened since.
Here’s why training for Turkish F-35 maintainers will proceed despite pause for Turkey’s student pilots-
Training for Turkish F-35 pilots has stopped as the Pentagon prepares to expel Turkey from the joint strike fighter program, but Turkish students learning to maintain the F-35 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., will be able to complete their training, a base spokeswoman has confirmed.
Kirtland Air Force Base gets space defense upgrades-
The U.S. Air Force has begun construction on a facility at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., that will play a major role in defending the nation from attacks by other countries on U.S. satellites.