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Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Behemoth Golden Dome may face lackluster scrutiny in Trump's Pentagon
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's decision this week to cut more than half of the Pentagon's test and evaluation office personnel was driven, in part, by concerns over the office's plans to provide testing oversight for the Trump administration's $175 billion Golden Dome missile defense project, multiple sources told Defense News. In a memo released Wednesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced plans to restructure the Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, known as DOT&E, and reduce its 94-person staff to 46 — a mix of civilians, military personnel and one senior executive. The memo also put an end to all contractor support to the office. The decision sparked concerns from some congressional Democrats, including Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Jack Reed, D-RI, who called the move 'reckless and damaging.' 'With staffing reduced to a skeleton crew and limited contractor backing, DOT&E may be unable to provide adequate oversight for critical military programs, risking operational readiness and taxpayer dollars,' Reed said in a statement. 'This kind of politically motivated interference undermines independent oversight and leaves warfighters and the public more vulnerable to untested, potentially flawed systems.' Hegseth said the reorganization is tied to the Pentagon's 'America First' strategy and was backed by an internal review that identified 'redundant, non-statutory functions' within the office. The analysis, he said, found that reducing personnel could save more than $300 million per year. But multiple sources familiar with the decision and granted anonymity to speak freely told Defense News the circumstances are more complicated than the scenario the secretary described in his memo. They pointed to perennial tensions between the military services and the office, stoked in recent months by an atmosphere of touting quick, programmatic successes that is antithetical to the exacting mission of verifying performance claims over time and under varying conditions. The sources also cited senior leadership's frustration with DOT&E's recent decision to add Golden Dome to its 'oversight list' as being the final provocation. 'It's a perfect storm,' one source said. The DOT&E office was created by Congress to provide independent oversight of major defense acquisition programs. Its leaders are required by law to approve testing plans and report results for all Defense Department programs whose total research and development cost exceeds $525 million —in 2020 dollars — or whose procurement is expected to cost more than $3 billion. The list of efforts under DOT&E oversight currently features over 250 programs, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the Army's Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon and the Navy's Aegis modernization program. The office's role as an overseer means its recommendations are sometimes unpopular with military service leaders and major defense contractors alike. But the aim of its rigorous, and often arduous, validation is to prevent the department from fielding faulty systems that could put service members in harm's way. Golden Dome's cost — estimated at $175 billion over the next three years — and its complexity make it a clear candidate for DOT&E oversight, the sources said. The process for initiating DOT&E oversight of a program is fairly straightforward, but when DOT&E's Acting Director Raymond O'Toole notified senior leaders in a recent memo that he planned to add Golden Dome to the list, the decision drew an unusual level of scrutiny. Officials worried the office's involvement would slow the program down and drive up its cost. They eventually elevated their concerns to the White House. That extra attention appears linked to President Donald Trump's interest in the program, one source said, noting the office was told the program 'needed to be successful for Mr. Trump.' Golden Dome became the president's signature defense project early in his second term. In a Jan. 27 memo, he directed the Pentagon to draft a plan for a layered network of ground-and space-based interceptors and sensors to detect, track and defeat a range of missile threats. Initially calling the project 'Iron Dome for America' after Israel's missile defense system of the same name, Trump rebranded it to 'Golden Dome' — a nod to his vision for a 'golden age in America' and perhaps his own penchant for the precious metal. In an Oval Office meeting last week, flanked by Hegseth and a top Space Force general — as well as multiple images depicting a map of the U.S. covered in gold — Trump said the Pentagon would deliver 'the best system ever built' before the end of his term. While there is wide agreement among defense officials and outside experts that the U.S. needs a more focused investment in its missile defense architecture, Trump's schedule and cost projections have raised eyebrows. With actual details on the project still slim, some have questioned whether Golden Dome's biggest technological lifts are feasible and worth the long-term cost. 'I don't think we should read much into the $175 billion figure because no details or caveats were provided,' said Todd Harrison, an analyst at the American Enterprise Institute. 'I want to see something on paper that shows what's included, what's not included, and the time frame of the estimate.' This week's DOT&E cuts likely mean the office will be under-resourced to oversee all of the Defense Department's major programs, let alone Golden Dome. One source familiar with the office speculated the 'drastically reduced' staff could allow the Pentagon to get away with slimming down the office's oversight list. Reduced testing oversight could allow Golden Dome to move faster, but sources said it would be concerning for a program with such high-stakes ambitions to escape scrutiny. 'It would be hundreds of warheads coming in with all kinds of countermeasures, cyber attacks,' another source said. 'That's usually beyond the scope of a program and a service test office to be able to orchestrate all that.'
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Maintenance costs will spike as militaries add advanced planes: Report
The costs of maintaining, repairing and overhauling military aircraft is likely to spike worldwide in years to come as advanced planes make up a growing portion of fleets, according to a new study from consulting firm Oliver Wyman. In the report, analysts Doug Berenson, Livia Hayes and Ian Ferguson said the global market for maintenance, repairs and overhauls of military aircraft — or MRO — totaled about $97 billion in 2025, and remained roughly flat over the preceding six years. That is likely to change over the next decade, as MRO costs grow and spending rises at about 1.4% per year. That means militaries could be spending more than $111 billion on MRO by 2035. The report, titled 'The Military's Mounting Cost for Cutting-Edge Technology: Why Global Air Forces Will Spend More on their Fleet MRO,' was provided to Defense News by Oliver Wyman. A key factor driving these higher MRO costs, the report said, is the growing number of advanced aircraft such as the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Such jets bring dramatically more sophisticated capabilities, such as stealth, than older jets. But their complex software, advanced propulsion systems, exotic materials and other technologies require more service hours to sustain and higher operating costs. Lockheed Martin says it has delivered more than 1,170 F-35s around the world. The U.S. Air Force now has about 471 F-35As and eventually plans to buy 1,763 of the jets. The report said that of the roughly 310 fighter jets bought each year by militaries worldwide, about half are F-35s. They make up 2.2% of the global fleet now, and over the next decade F-35s are projected to grow to 4.7% of the global fleet. 'By 2035, the F-35 alone will account for 9.5% of the global total MRO spending — more than twice the aircraft's share today,' the report said. But F-35s aren't the only advanced aircraft swelling militaries' fleets. The Air Force is also working on two sixth-generation aircraft, the B-21 Raider stealth bomber and the F-47 fighter, also known as Next Generation Air Dominance. The Air Force also wants a fleet of more than 1,000 semi-autonomous drone wingmen, known as collaborative combat aircraft, to fly alongside its piloted fighters, and is working with General Atomics and Anduril Industries on the first iteration of CCAs. The U.S. Navy, as well as European and Asian militaries, are also looking hard at their own sixth-generation fighters. The report said those nations' governments should take MRO costs' effect on budgets into account as those planes are designed. The report also cited European aircraft such as the Airbus A400M Atlas, an advanced heavy transport plane, and the NHIndustries NH90 helicopter as examples of complex aircraft headed for military fleets. Complex aircraft worldwide now make up about 11% of military fleets, the report said, but a decade from now that will be up to 17%. NATO fleets now spend about 16% of their MRO budgets on complex aircraft, the report added. By 2035 that share will have risen to 26%. The increasing importance of drones in warfare, particularly in Ukraine, is also causing MRO spending to grow. Over the last five years, major air forces around the world added 350 unmanned aerial vehicles to their fleets, bringing the total to more than 1,400. That is expected to more than double over the next decade, to 3,460 worldwide. 'MRO spending [on drones] has started to grow faster than the global fleet,' the report said. 'Besides the increased sophistication of newer platforms, the supercharged demand has been driven by aircraft needs related to the three-year-old conflict in Ukraine. For governments operating these aircraft, the coming period of higher growth will bring significant challenges and questions about how ready is ready enough.' Governments will need to strike the right balance between multiple priorities, the report noted, including determining how valuable high aircraft readiness is compared to the rising maintenance costs that would require. The report said air forces will need to expand their supply chains for spare parts, so they are not dependent on sources that are diminishing or even going out of business. That issue of parts sources drying up has, over time, become an acute problem for decades-old planes like the B-52 Stratofortress. Air forces also need to figure out whether they want to have the original manufacturer of planes or drones conduct the necessary MRO work, which may be simpler but come with a higher price tag. If air forces cannot adequately budget for growing MRO expenses, the report said, other aspects of those forces' airpower can suffer. The report pointed to the U.S. Air Force's decision in recent years to dial back the number of flying hours budgeted for its planes, and its inability to turn around declining mission-capable rates, as it focused instead on bringing on new technologies and aircraft it hopes will plug those gaps. 'As it prioritizes modernization, the Air Force is betting that it can manage these readiness risks,' the report stated.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
How The Houthi's Rickety Air Defenses Threaten Even The F-35
Though details remain limited, the Houthis look to have gotten worryingly close to downing a U.S. F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and reportedly several American F-16 Vipers, during a surge in airstrikes on targets in Yemen this Spring. Houthi air defense capabilities are largely rudimentary, but this also makes them a unique and vexing challenge for American combat aircraft. Made up of mainly mobile systems, they can appear virtually anywhere, disrupting carefully laid mission plans. Many of them are also improvised, leveraging non-traditional passive infrared sensors and jury-rigged air-to-air missiles that provide little to no early warning of a threat, let alone an incoming attack. Last month, TWZ published a deep dive feature on the Yemeni militants' air defense arsenal that you can access here. You can also get up to speed about what is known about the Houthis' attempted intercepts of U.S. crewed combat jets earlier this year in our initial reporting here. Houthi air defenses appear to have prompted an increased use of stealthy aircraft like the F-35, especially for direct strikes on targets in Yemen, as well as costly standoff munitions, in recent months. The U.S. military launched its expanded campaign of strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, dubbed Operation Rough Rider, in March. Last week, the U.S. government announced a ceasefire with the militant group, which authorities in Oman had helped broker. STILL HERE. STILL CRUSHING THE ENEMY. The @CVN70 remains positioned to counter threats from Iran-backed Houthi forces. — Department of Defense (@DeptofDefense) April 23, 2025 As it stands now, it is unknown what missile or missiles the Houthis fired at the F-35. Other details that would allow for a full assessment of that engagement, as well as the reported attempted intercepts of the F-16s, also have yet to emerge. To provide some general context, when it comes to the F-35, on top of its stealth design, the jet has a powerful built-in electronic warfare suite, as well as the ability to employ expendable countermeasures and the capacity to use towed decoys, but this does not mean it is invulnerable to detection or interception. As TWZ has previously written: 'The F-35 … is designed with its own highly-integrated, highly-advanced AN/ASQ-239 electronic warfare system. It takes advantages of its active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and the antennas that are buried along the edges of its wings and control surfaces and beneath its skin. This capability allows the F-35 to 'self-escort' to the target area and back, taking on enemy emitters electronically that it may have trouble staying far enough away from to evade detection entirely. This same electronic warfare suite and the jet's high degree of sensor fusion offers F-35 pilots the ability make rapid decisions regarding their survivability on the fly. They can decide to destroy threatening emitters that may pop-up in their way, and new weapons are being developed to do this quickly and over relatively long ranges, or to avoid the threat entirely if possible, or to try to blind and confuse it via electronic attacks, allowing the F-35 to sneak by unscathed.' 'This electronic warfare capability gives the jet an enhanced degree of survivability and helps offset reliance on its low-observable design alone, which does have its weaknesses. Beyond being optimized to defeat higher-frequency fire control radars, like those that operate on and around the X band, the rear of the F-35 has been a bit controversial as its perceived radar cross-section is larger than some would like, possibly leaving it vulnerable to detection and even engagement from rear aspects.' Even in its most stealthy configuration, an F-35 also has to open its internal bays to employ air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions, which offers an enemy a brief opportunity to detect it at much greater distances on radar. As already noted, a central aspect of the air defense arsenal the Houthis have been able to cobble together over the past decade or so is the use of infrared sensors for target detection, tracking, and cueing, and as seekers in the interceptors themselves. The Houthis have stocks of infrared-guided R-73 and R-27 air-to-air missiles repurposed for surface-to-air use, which are referred to locally as Thaqib-1s and Thaqib-2s. The Yemeni militants also have Saqr-series infrared-homing surface-to-air missiles, which have a degree of loitering capability. They are based on an Iranian design commonly referred to simply as the '358.' The ability of Saqr/358 missiles to engage higher and faster-flying combat jets is likely somewhat limited, but the Thaqib-1/2s have demonstrated their ability to at least hold fighters at risk in the past, which we will come back to later. The Houthis also regularly release infrared camera footage after claiming surface-to-air intercepts of U.S. and other foreign crewed and uncrewed aircraft. This, in turn, points to the possibility that Yemeni militants are also using infrared sensors for target detection, tracking, and cueing beyond just for infrared missile types, including with various radar-guided surface-to-air missile systems, such as more modern types fielded in recent years with the aid of Iran. Unlike active radars, infrared sensors and seekers are passive in nature. This means they do not emit signals that an electronic warfare suite like the AN/ASQ-239, or other RF warning sensors, can detect to alert pilots that a threat is present, and especially that their aircraft has been spotted and is being targeted before and after a missile is launched. This presents challenges to stealthy and non-stealth aircraft alike. At launch, an F-35 should be able to detect the incoming missile using its AN/AAQ-37 Distributed Aperture System (DAS), which consists of an array of six infrared cameras installed in various locations around the aircraft. However, the time available for the pilot to react could be very short at that point, especially if there was little to no advance warning. An aircraft without electro-optical and/or infrared missile launch detection/approach warning capabilities would have to rely first on visually spotting the incoming infrared-guided threat before even attempting any evasive action. Pairing infrared sensors with radar-guided surface-to-air missile systems could also help them remain hidden by not having to start radiating until very late in their engagement cycle. This would reduce the available time for a targeted aircraft to react. It would also aid in cueing the fire control radar onto stealthy targets. 'The Houthis and the Iranians went electro-optical, because it is a completely passive system,' Michael Knights, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank in Washington, D.C., had told CBS News for a story published last September as U.S. MQ-9 drone losses to the Houthis had already started to stack up. 'It's hard to hunt those things down because they don't really have any signature before launch.' It's important to note here that the ability of Houthi air defenses to punch above their weight by leveraging lower-end infrared capabilities is not new, and in many ways has been an advantage for them for the reasons stated above. The Yemeni militants also claimed to have damaged or destroyed Tornado, F-15, and F-16 crewed combat jets, as well as drones, belonging to Saudi Arabian-led forces during fighting in the late 2010s and early 2020s. フーシ（※Houthi：イエメンの武装組織）が交戦するサウジアラビアのF-15を撃墜したとする様子を撮影したFLIR動画が・・・ヤバス。 — act (@zaylog) January 9, 2018 Yemeni Houthis intercepted Saudi F-15 by Fatter-1 missile ( it's SA-6 SAM that were restored or supposedly modernized with Iranian assistance). Judging by how close the missile exploded it was quite likely that F-15 could have been damaged, but still managed to fly away. — Yuri Lyamin (@imp_navigator) December 10, 2021 Though a firm tally has not been established, significant losses of U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones to the Houthis are well-documented and otherwise substantiated at this point, as well. | The Houthis show footage from the shootdown of another U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper I'm not mistaken, that would be the 20th MQ-9 downed by the Houthis from Yemen. — Status-6 (Military & Conflict News) (BlueSky too) (@Archer83Able) April 18, 2025 Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis release footage showing American MQ-9 Reaper UAV being shot down over Yemeni territorial waters. — Clash Report (@clashreport) November 8, 2023 Regardless of infrared sensor assistance, road mobile radar-guided systems remain a problem for U.S. and allied combat aircraft, not just in Yemen, but anywhere. At a hearing before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in March, U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, head of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), confirmed that the Houthis had 'attempted to' use their Soviet-era mobile 2K12 Kub (SA-6 Gadly) radar-guided surface-to-air missile systems, specifically, against U.S. aircraft, but did not elaborate. Mobile systems, including the 2K12/SA-6, are understood to make up the majority of the Houthis' air defense capabilities, making it easier for them to 'pop up' suddenly in unexpected locations, which presents even more challenges. In addition, this makes it more difficult to target them proactively and plan the most effective and safest mission routes. For the F-35, this reduces the advantages the stealthy jet otherwise has, in part thanks to advanced mission planning support used to devise optimal routes based on detailed data about hostile defenses and other recent intelligence, while also taking into account the aircraft's signature, defensive capabilities, and more. All of these elements are factored into a 'blue line' route that is calculated as the best path for survivability and overall mission success. This route will have lower efficacy when road-mobile surface-to-air missiles and improvised infrared threat systems are present. The U.S. military is also well aware itself that stealthy aircraft are not invisible or invulnerable to enemy air defenses, in general. Serbian air defenders proved back in 1999 that radar cross-section reducing design features do not eliminate risk when they shot down a U.S. F-117 Nighthawk stealth combat jet and succeeded in damaging another on separate occasions with then-dated Soviet-era surface-to-air missiles. F-117 missions at that point in time were already being routinely conducted with support from EF-111 Raven and EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft, something that was notably absent on the night that the one Nighthawk was lost. The Serbians had also gotten advance warning that a group of F-117s was on its way, and the jets reused what had become a well-known route to the target area, making it easier to set an ambush for them. Even today, U.S. stealth aircraft like the F-35 and the B-2 bomber make use of offboard electronic warfare and suppression and destruction of enemy air defenses (SEAD/DEAD) support, provided by non-stealthy aircraft, during missions when possible. A host of factors, including a certain amount of luck, can still coalesce and lead to them getting shot down. Had the Houthis been able to shoot down an F-35, or even a non-stealthy U.S. fighter, or just severely damaged one, for any combination of reasons, it would have been a major propaganda coup and humiliating for the United States. Had a pilot been killed or captured, it would have added an even more mortifying dimension to the incident. The U.S. military as a whole has already acknowledged that operations against the Houthis have provided the opportunity for very important lessons to be learned. The potential loss of an F-35 or any other crewed aircraft to the Yemeni militants would be something worth scrutinizing, regardless of the circumstances. It's also worth noting here that the loss of a jet over Yemen would have likely led to a combat search and rescue (CSAR) effort requiring significant manpower and material resources. Dispatching a force including low and slow-flying helicopters or Osprey tiltrotors supported by additional fast jets into an area where air defense threats had already downed one of the U.S. military's most survivable aircraft would present massive additional risks. The U.S. military has already been facing growing questions about how it plans to respond to the loss of stealthy aircraft in highly contested environments in future high-end conflicts. Interestingly, just this past weekend, CENTCOM shared pictures of Air Force HH-60W Jolly Green II CSAR helicopters operating in the Middle East. A U.S. Air Force HH-60W Jolly Green II refuels during operations over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. — U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) May 11, 2025 All of this has ramifications for the U.S. military well beyond the F-35 and Yemen. Infrared search and track systems (IRST) on hostile aircraft and platforms down below, along with other infrared sensors and longer-range anti-air missiles with infrared seekers – all far more advanced than what the Houthis have been employing – are becoming increasingly more common components of the aerial threat ecosystem. Those systems will also increasingly be tied into larger and deeply networked integrated air defense systems (IADS), where they can then be used to help cue radars to targets of interest, especially stealthy ones. With infrared sensors having identified a stealthy target, operators could use their radars in non-traditional ways, or cooperatively in an automated fashion, to create a target-quality track. If they can't lock on immediately, the position of the target could be relayed to aircraft or other assets, including ever-problematic road-mobile air defense systems, which might be better positioned to attempt an intercept. They could also use the passive sensors to continue tracking the target until better conditions for a lock emerge — namely being in closer proximity to a fire control radar or a group of them that are networked across the IADS. Emphasis on infrared and other passive sensors capabilities is only likely to be further fueled by the continued fielding of stealthy aircraft, crewed and uncrewed, as well as missiles, by more and more countries around the world. What the U.S. Air Force has referred to at least in the past as 'spectral warfare' and 'spectral dominance' has already been a major aspect of that service's Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) initiative for years. Technologies to help shield aircraft against IRSTs and other infrared sensors are a key element of achieving that 'dominance.' Potential adversaries like China and Russia have been learning the same kinds of lessons, now with the help of observations from the recent fighting in and around Yemen, as well as the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. More details about just how close the Houthis actually came to shooting down an F-35 or other crewed U.S. aircraft may now continue to come out. What has emerged already is that the Yemeni militants have demonstrated the real threats that mobile air defense systems, and especially those that leverage infrared detection and tracking capability, can present even to advanced stealthy aircraft. Contact the author: joe@
Daily Record
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Daily Record
Pro-Palestine activists vandalise Glasgow factory over 'Israel links'
Photos have emerged of activists vandalising the Scottish offices of a military parts manufacturer over the company's alleged links to the Israeli military campaign in Gaza. Parker Hannifin's premises in Glasgow's Hillington were targeted on Monday night, April 28, with the building covered in red paint and defaced with slogans such as 'Free Palestine' and 'Your profits are covered in blood.' Activists from the group Palestine Action Scotland claimed responsibility for the incident, accusing the firm of supplying components used in weapons systems deployed by Israeli forces. In a statement, the group said the action was taken in response to 'calls from Palestine to disrupt the flow of arms and technology from Scotland to Israel.' They specifically cited Parker Hannifin's role in producing parts for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and other military aircraft used in Israeli operations. The company also supplies systems to Leonardo, an Italian defence contractor with long-standing ties to Israel, known for manufacturing components for Apache helicopters and F-35 targeting systems. 'These weapons have been used to drop 2,000lb bombs on Gaza, destroying homes, civilian infrastructure, and killing tens of thousands,' the group said. 'Parker Hannifin has blood on its hands and will remain a target until it cuts ties with complicit companies like Leonardo.' The protest marks the second time activists in Scotland have targeted Parker Hannifin over its involvement in the arms trade with Israel. Campaigners referenced investigations by Amnesty International and legal proceedings at the International Court of Justice, which have described the situation in Gaza as genocide. 'This brutal war of extermination is being enabled by companies operating right here in Scotland,' the group said. 'Every company that chooses to be part of the supply chain to Israel's military shares responsibility and profits from genocide.' Palestine Action Scotland is part of a wider direct-action network seeking to shut down what it describes as 'sites of complicity' in Israeli apartheid. The group has carried out similar actions across the UK targeting companies involved in military supply chains. Parker Hannifin and Police Scotland have been contacted for comment.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Giving F-35 'NASCAR Upgrade' Can Deliver 80% Of F-47 Capabilities At Half Cost: Lockheed
Lockheed Martin is making the pitch that its deep-in-production F-35 Joint Strike Fighter can provide 80% of the capabilities of the F-47 Next Generation Air Dominance fighter at half the cost. This is a huge claim and one aimed at keeping the F-35 relevant for decades to come and potentially providing an alternative to the F-47. Achieving this would come by taking tech developed under the NGAD fighter program, which Lockheed lost to Boeing, and injecting it into the F-35. Going farther than just minor modifications, it would give the F-35 a 'NASCAR upgrade' by leveraging its base 'chassis.' This '5th generation plus' reworking could include new materials, geometries, and countermeasures developed under NGAD. We also now know that Lockheed will not formally protest Boeing's winning of the NGAD combat jet competition. These details came directly from Jim Taiclet, CEO of Lockheed Martin, during an earnings call this morning, in which he stated: 'And we plan on applying those [NGAD] technologies to our current systems, making our already proven products even more relevant to the future, as well as enhancing the capabilities we provide in ongoing and future development. For example, the knowledge and technology development gained from our investments in the NGAD competition strengthened our conviction to enhance the F-35 to a '5th generation plus' capability. And I challenged the team to deliver 80% of 6th gen capability at 50% of the cost. In support of this vision, we're also committing to drive disruptive innovation and building upon our recent established internal capabilities and AI autonomy, crewed-uncrewed teaming, and command and control systems across the whole company. We have aligned these technology investments with our customer priorities and demonstrated meaningful increases in capabilities at relatively low cost.' In addition, Taiclet told shareholders that the firm would not be protesting the NGAD combat jet award to Boeing. This is a relatively major development. Instead, they will be rolling their research and development back into their existing fighter aircraft, the F-35 and F-22, to make them more potent, and presumably to step in if the F-47 doesn't make it to production. 'We did get a classified debrief from the US Air Force on their NGAD decision. And we are taking that feedback internally and looking at all the aspects that we were briefed on, which we can't speak to because of the classification level. But we are addressing those. On a strategic basis, where we are going with this decision is not to protest it.' 'We are not going to protest the NGAD decision of the U.S. government. We are moving forward and moving out on applying all the technologies that we developed for our NGAD bid onto our embedded base of F-35 and F-22. I feel that we can have, again, 80% of the capability potentially at 50% of the cost per unit aircraft by taking the F-35 chassis and applying numerous advanced technologies, some of which are already in process in Block 4 and F-35, but others that we can apply and we are going to offer fairly rapidly to the Department of Defense to really take that chassis and supercharge it for the future. And that's kind of a 5th generation plus concept for F-35. And that investment in NGAD technologies that we made over the last few years are going to be applied directly to that chassis.' Considering Lockheed needs to continue a good relationship with the prickly Trump administration, a challenge to the F-47 award decision would have been a risky move. The company has many other products to sell to its primary customer, the U.S. federal government. This includes many other facets of the overall NGAD program, from unmanned systems to weapons to command and control architectures. A challenge could put its standing for future and ongoing business with the administration at risk. This is just one of many factors that would have played into the decision about whether or not to launch a formal protest. The fact that Taiclet is using the word 'chassis' in relation to the F-35 is also worth noting. Looking at a platform as a highly adaptable canvas on which to paint your capability needs is certainly in vogue, especially in the aerial realm. With this in mind, it probably won't be long until Lockheed starts comprehensively pitching its next step beyond Block 4 for the F-35, and it could end up being more exotic in terms of changes than what many may have assumed prior to the NGAD combat jet competition loss. The USAF had already proposed going for a much cheaper alternative to what is now the F-47. We explored what this could look like, which you can read here. A deeply reworked F-35 could step into this alternative offering space, something then-Secretary of the Air Force and godfather of the NGAD combat jet Frank Kendall explicitly highlighted just in January. At the very least, we now know that Lockheed isn't going to look back at its loss to Boeing's F-47 and is moving on, doubling down on the two 5th generation fighter programs already in its portfolio, one of which has over 1,100 examples produced and for which demand remains strong for more. And, as we have always posited, the manned fighter element of NGAD may be the most high-profile, but there are many other opportunities within the wide-ranging program, with the unmanned components of it being arguably the most important in terms of a future growth vector. Lockheed has already been leveraging efforts to modernize the F-22, which so far do involve a major redesign of that aircraft, to support work related to NGAD. When asked about how the NGAD technologies and their migration would be funded and the confidence the company has in integrating them into the F-35, Taiclet gave a lot more detail of exactly regarding what this could actually look like: 'We have 70,000 engineers and scientists in the company working on really interesting stuff all the time. And some of the fifth-gen plus solution set is already being funded by the US government and the F-35 program itself. There are components, some of which are classified, so I can't really specify them. But key techniques, I'll say, and approaches that a fighter pilot needs to have to be competitive and win, I'll just kind of talk to those in general, you can be assured that we are investing and the government is investing together in these things. Some of these elements are, again, through the F-35 program as it stands today. Some of it was our government-funded investment in R&D for NGAD, just the competitive process, was funded for both Lockheed Martin and Boeing over a period of years by the government. And we made independent investments along the way, too, in both of those programs. So there's not a clean percentage, but there's co-investment between the US government, our allies, and Lockheed Martin in the technologies I'm speaking to. And having done this myself when I was younger, these things are really important. So one is sensing the enemy at a distance greater than they can sense you. And so those kind of categories are radar, they're passive infrared. And passive infrared is really important because if I'm transmitting radar, that means somebody else's electronic warfare receiver can see me. And then they can maybe shoot me. So the better I have infrared, which is passive, we can sense that, and the best radar on top of that. Those kinds of sensors are really, really critical because I explained this in a meeting with the White House. President's like, 'dogfights are not what we want anymore in air-to-air combat. We want to shoot the other guys,' as I said before, if he even knows we're there. And you do that, first of all, with the critical sensors to find them. Then you make sure they can't find you. And that's the stealth technology. And there's some techniques that we've used for our NGAD offering that can be applied, whether they're materials, they're geometries, they're countermeasures for stealth. So no, I can't be seen. That's the first part of the equation. The second part of the equation is you want to have a tracking system and a weapon that can go farther and hit the enemy plane before they can ever even reach you with their weapon. And so there are techniques and capabilities we delivered with NGAD, our NGAD bid that were developed for that, that we can now apply here. So it's an F-35. So we're basically going take the chassis and turn it into a Ferrari. It's like a NASCAR upgrade, so to speak, where we could take the F-35, apply some of those co-funded technologies both from NGAD and the F-35 program, and you're going to have, again, my challenge to my aeronautics team is let's get 80% of sixth gen capability at half the price. That's something that these are engineers, they wouldn't have agreed to this if they didn't think there was a path to get there. That's something we're going go out and do. And this is this best value approach that we've been kind of working our way towards that at Lockheed Martin over the last four or five years. How do we get best value to the customer who has a limited budget and an increasing threat? We use these digital technologies. We apply something from one system… to another, and we actually try to create that best value equation. It's a little kind of not uncomfortable, but novel for our industry to think that way. But we are thinking that way. And value is important and maybe as or more important than the highest technology available. It's got to be scalable, it's got to be affordable, it's got to work every time. And so that's what we're after.' Taken as a whole, the world's largest defense contractor has now doubled down on its F-35, which could look quite different than it does today, at least in concept, in the not-too-distant future. As to if tweaking the Joint Strike Fighter into something that comes close to rivaling a decades newer design tailored to future threats, we'll have to wait and see, but fulfilling on that claim will be a very tall order. Contact the author: Tyler@
