DefenseNews: Lockheed Martin Faces Financial Struggles Due to F-35 Upgrade Contract Delays
DefenseNews : Lockheed Martin's F-35 program is facing significant financial losses due to delays in contract agreements and software integration issues, impacting its 2024 earnings. These setbacks, primarily tied to the new TR-3 upgrade, are straining the company’s financials, but recovery plans are in motion. Contract delays and software problems with the F-35 are costing Lockheed Martin hundreds of millions of dollars, and the company is trying to get the program back on track and start recouping its costs. The F-35 program, one of the …
Lockheed’s CEO Wants His Company to Connect All the Pentagon’s Weapons
The Pentagon should start electronically connecting its most important weapons first as it builds a broader strategy to link everything on the battlefield, the head of the world’s largest defense contractor says. Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet also believes companies should help write the technical standards for the Pentagon’s effort, just as private industry did with mobile phone standards in the 1990s that laid the foundation for the current generation of commercial wireless. “There's a lot of ways to get there, but I think the only fea…
US Air Force: Bell V-280 aircraft flies with system that can see through Objects like aircraft's itself
Bell’s experimental V-280 Valor tiltrotor, built for a U.S. Army technology demonstration, has flown for the first time with an integrated system that provides the pilots and aircrew a 360-degree view through the skin of the aircraft. V-280 aircraft At the Army Aviation Association of America’s annual summit, Lockheed Martin displayed footage collected from its Pilotage Distributed Aperture System’s first flight over central Texas on the V-280 . PDAS “is the first fully integrated tactical distributed aperture system in the hist…
DefenseNews: Defense firms closely watching tariffs, but split on potential sting
DefenseNews : Major defense contractors appear to be split on the potential impact of the Trump administration’s tariffs, with one major firm bracing for hundreds of millions in potential lost profits, while others predict minimal effects. In an April 22 earnings call with investors, executives from RTX Corp. — formerly known as Raytheon — predicted $850 million in losses if tariffs stay in effect for the rest of 2025. Executives from Boeing and Lockheed Martin, on the other hand, expressed more confidence that they will be able to blunt the w…
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Boeing wins contract for NGAD fighter jet, dubbed F-47
DefenseNews : The Pentagon has awarded the long-awaited contract for the Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance future fighter jet, known as NGAD, to Boeing, President Donald Trump announced Friday. The sixth-generation fighter, which will replace the F-22 Raptor, will be designated the F-47, Trump said. It will have “state-of-the-art stealth technologies [making it] virtually unseeable,” and will fly alongside multiple autonomous drone wingmen, known as collaborative combat aircraft. “It’s something the likes of which nobody has ever seen …
Royal Navy aircraft carrier will be used by US squadrons
DELAYS to the Royal Navy’s new fighter planes could see US squadrons fly off the new HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier. The carrier, which will be based in Portsmouth, will be ready by 2017 but there may be a delay of some years before the first British squadron of F35s is operational. According to the BBC, the American Marine Corp may be asked to bridge that gap. A fire in the engine of the American-built Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II in the summer has already delayed the build.
Patriot missile sales to Netherlands cleared by US State Department
WASHINGTON ― The U.S. Department of State cleared a possible foreign military sale of 96 Raytheon-made Patriot surface-to-air missiles to the Netherlands in a deal estimated to be worth $1.2 billion. The Netherlands requested to buy the Patriot MIM-104E Guidance Enhanced Missile-Tactical, or GEM-T, missiles, which the State Department said support its goal of improving its defenses and increase its interoperability with the U.S. and fellow NATO forces. “The proposed sale will improve the Netherlands’ capability to meet current and future threa…
US - Japan: US Ready to Sell 42 F-35 & 63 F-35A to Japan’s at Estimated $23B
WASHINGTON — The United States on Thursday approved a planned purchase by Japan of 105 F-35 joint strike fighters , moving the country one step closer to becoming the biggest foreign customer of the Lockheed Martin-produced jet. The approved package includes 63 F-35A conventional takeoff and landing aircraft and 42 F-35 short takeoff and landing variants, essentially green-lighting the procurement plans spelled out by Japan in 2018. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the possible sale, which is worth about $23 billi…
US Navy receives 200th MH-60R Romeo helicopter
The US Navy’s submarine-hunting MH-60R Romeo helicopter fleet continues to grow, with Lockheed Martin delivering the 200th aircraft to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron Seven-Two (HSM-72). The US Navy is projected to acquire 291 MH-60R helicopters in total. The existing fleet has acquired more than 250,000 operational flight hours, providing increased surveillance and situational awareness for anti-surface and anti-submarine operations. Manufactured by Sikorsky and provided with advanced mission systems and sensors by Lock…
U.S. Navy Expect Decision on LCS Warship
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is expected to make a decision soon on how to make a new class of smaller warships more lethal and survivable, the Navy's top admiral said on Saturday. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert expected a quick decision based on a recommendation submitted by the Navy, but gave no details. "The Secretary is very close to a decision," Greenert told Reuters in an interview at a defense conference at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. "It was our endeavor to provide …
Pentagon awards US$4.1 Bn for 43 F-35s
The Pentagon claimed the cost of the current lot reflects a reduction of 3.6 percent over LRIP VII. More reductions will come into effect in the next batch of production, eventually bringing the aircraft cost to the level of current 4-4.5 generation fighters. Lockheed Martin has been awarded additional a $4,123 million contract, as a modification to the F-35 program, for the production of 43 F-35s under the eighth Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP Lot VIII) lot of the F-35 Lightning II aircraft. The acquisition includes 29 F-35A model…
UK still hopeful of fighter jet deal with India
In the second week of July, Britain is likely to send in Foreign Secretary William Hague and finance minister George Osborne, a British government source said on Friday. Britain has drawn some cheer from the slow progress of the negotiations for the Rafale deal. The Eurofighter Typhoon was shortlisted along with the Dassault fighter before India announced the French jet was the winner. Cost escalations and disagreements about building the Rafale in partnership with India's state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited have complicate…
New Russian Stealth Jet Fighter Called ‘Super Weapon’ Giving Russia Edge Over U.S. In Skies
A new Russian jet fighter, using stealth technology designed to conceal the plane from radar, is being called a “super weapon” by military experts who say that the fifth-generation Russian fighter jet actually surpasses United States fighters and could give Russia an advantage in the skies. Known as the TA-50 PAK FA , the new Russian stealth fighter is developed by the Russian aeronautic giant Sukhoi and is set to go into action in 2016. Russia is developing the new super fighter together with India, which is kicking in 25 percent of t…
U.S. Navy says looking at possible further orders of Boeing jets
The U.S. Navy is looking at possible additional orders of Boeing Co's EA-18G electronic attack planes, or Growlers, as it shapes its fiscal 2016 budget request, the Navy's top uniformed officer said Saturday. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert told Reuters the Navy was reviewing its inventory of tactical aircraft, including Growlers and strike fighters, to ensure its electronic attack needs were met. Congress, responding to an "unfunded priority" list submitted by the Navy earlier this year, is pois…
Turkey May Soon Restart Their Own Missile Defense Program
ANKARA — Turkey ’s procurement bureaucracy is rethinking a multibillion dollar program to build the country’s first air and missile defense program, keeping “all options open,” including scrapping the existing competition and merging it with a longer-range program with better capabilities. That contest has not yet been announced, but procurement officials say one option to overcome the deadlock could be to renew the program. “There is a degree of uncertainty, which requires evaluating all existing options and waiting for a push fro…
5 US military weapons reportedly compromised by Chinese hackers
More than two dozen U.S. military weapons have been compromised by Chinese cyberspies, according to an unnerving new report by the Department of Defense. The Washington Post reports the the "electronic intrusions gave China access to advanced technology that could accelerate the development of its weapons systems and weaken the U.S. military advantage in a future conflict." While it's unclear exactly how much damage was done by the breaches, the designs include a formidable array of high-tech aircraft, missile defense syst…
Norway Shortlists France, Germany, UK, and US for Multi-Billion Dollar Frigate Deal
DefenseNews : Norway has revealed its billion-dollar shortlist for the acquisition of new frigates, naming four key players from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This development is part of Norway's ambitious naval modernization program aimed at bolstering its maritime defense capabilities in response to rising security challenges in the North Atlantic and Arctic regions. The Royal Norwegian Navy’s decision to replace its aging fleet of frigates underscores the growing importance of naval power in ensuring natio…
US Air Force to buy Turkish F-35s
WASHINGTON — After a year of speculation about what would happen to Turkey’s F-35s after the country was ousted from the joint strike fighter program last year, the Defense Department gave its definitive answer Monday evening in a characteristically anticlimactic manner — through its daily contract announcements. The U.S. Air Force will officially buy eight F-35A conventional takeoff and landing jets originally built by Lockheed Martin for Turkey as part of a $862 million contract modification. The deal also contains an additional six F-…
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Arms dealers are setting up shop in Australia. There's still time to reject these merchants of death
Northrop Grunman, a leading US defence contracting firm, will launch a major Australian expansion next month. We’re a bigger market for arms than you might think It’s a good time to be in the weapons business. Three of the leading US defence contractors, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin, are all making unprecedented profits. In December, Northrop will host an event at the Australian War Memorial to mark the company’s expansion into the Asia-Pacific region. It be launched by Federal Def…
US Document Riles Critics of Proposed Canadian F-35 Buy
A leaked US document has raised new questions about Canada’s involvement in the F-35 program and given critics of the fighter jet as well as opposition members of Parliament new ammunition to accuse the Canadian government of misleading the public about the proposed acquisition. An Oct. 27 briefing by US Air Force Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, F-35 Program Executive Office director, outlined how Canada intends to initially purchase four F-35s. That flies in the face of continued Canadian government assurances that no decision had been made ab…
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