A Marine F-35B joint strike fighter lifts off from the runway during the first short take-off and vertical landing mission at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. on Oct. 25 2013. US Marine Corps Photo
Lockheed Martin has begun testing the final version of the F-35’s Block 2B software that the US. Marines need to declare the jet operational starting on June 9, company officials told reporters on Monday. Read More
MH-60S helicopter from the Island Knights of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 25 on May 30, 2014. US Navy Photo
While acknowledging, “we will always have an operational need for vertical lift,” the Pentagon’s tight budget future is keeping the initiative to replace its aging fleet of helicopters on a small science-and- technology diet that worries industry. Read More
US Air Force RC-135. US Air Force Photo
An American military surveillance aircraft barely escaped a deadly mid-air collision with a Russian fighter jet in the skies above the north Pacific, further inflaming tensions between the former Cold War adversaries. Read More
F-35B Lightning II aircraft lands aboard USS Wasp (LHD-1) in August 2013. US Navy Photo
The U.S. Marine Corps’ F-35B short take-off vertical landing (STOVL) version of the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) is making good progress toward meeting its July 2015 initial operational capability (IOC) date according to company officials. Read More
RQ-4 Global Hawk sits on the runway before beginning a nighttime mission. US Air Force Photo
The U.S. Air Force’s fleet of Northrop Grumman RQ-4B Global Hawks has been busy in recent days, touching down in Japan and participating in NATO exercises over the U.K. for the first time. Read More
USS George Washington (CVN-73) on Nov. 24, 2013.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this post indicated an amendment that would restrict money to fund a complex refueling and overhaul of USS George Washington (CVN-73) offered by Reps. Jared Polis (Colo.)and Earl Blumenauer (Ore.) had passed. That amendment did not pass in the final House version of Fiscal Year 2015 defense bill. USNI News regrets the error.
House lawmakers preserved a legislative effort to keep the USS George Washington (CVN-73) to fund the start the refueling and complex overhaul (RCOH) of the carrier as part of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 defense bill. Read More
F-22 Raptor takes off for a training mission at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on May 16, 2014. US Air Force Photo
The U.S. Air Force’s elite 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron recently evaluated the Thales Visionix Scorpion helmet-mounted cueing system on the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., according to a senior service official. Read More
A government advisory panel, convened by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, recommended today that Japan make major changes to its defense policy. Prompted by recent tensions with China and North Korea, the panel recommended a reinterpretation of the national Constitution allowing Japan to exercise its right to collective self defense. Read More
Navy SEALs train at Virginia Beach, Va. in 2012. U.S. Navy Photo
The following is the May 8, 2014 Congressional Research Service report, U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF): Background and Issues for Congress. Read More
A 1994 test launch of a U.S. Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile. U.S. Air Force Photo
The following is the May 5, 2014 Congressional Research Service report, Conventional Prompt Global Strike and Long-Range Ballistic Missiles: Background and Issues. Read More
