Latest news with #USAirForce
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The F-35 could be 'pilot optional' in the not-too-distant future, Lockheed Martin CEO says
Lockheed Martin's CEO announced plans for an uncrewed F-35. The F-35 and F-22 will gain next-gen stealth, electronic warfare, and weapons improvements, he said. The US Air Force wants uncrewed aircraft to support piloted ones and add mass to its force. Lockheed Martin is developing an advanced version of its F-35 stealth fighter jet that could potentially be uncrewed, the company's CEO said on Wednesday. Speaking at the Bernstein's 41st Annual Strategic Decisions Conference, CEO Jim Taiclet floated the possibility of an F-35 whose pilot could be "optional" within a "relatively modest time frame." He outlined what he called "fifth-gen-plus" aircraft, where within two or three years both the F-35 and the older F-22 Raptor would feature several capabilities, including stealth coatings, electronic warfare improvements, and an unspecified weapons improvement, he said. Lockheed is repurposing much of this tech from its failed bid for the F-22 Raptor replacement, advances whose capabilities could rival those of the winning jet design at a much lower cost. Boeing secured the contract for the US Air Force's Next-Generation Air Dominance program, or NGAD, to develop the sixth-generation F-47. Lockheed Martin didn't protest the decision. "Our target is 80% of the capability of an NGAD sixth-generation at 50% of the unit costs," Taiclet said. These improvements would be introduced in stages, he said, with consideration to how the aircraft will be integrated with other systems. Some updates could be done in two to three years for "a meaningful increase in capacity," Taiclet said. That includes stealth coatings on the aircraft's surface and adjustments to its shape, as well as electronic warfare and weapons capabilities upgrades. Sixth-generation are a class of aircraft whose stealth, speed, automation and extended range are expected to make them the world's premier aircraft as they enter service in the 2030s. More than 1,200 F-35s have already been delivered to the US and 12 additional countries' militaries. The F-35 program has hit several snags over the years, including costs and goals. The lifetime F-35 program costs top $2 trillion, and sustainability costs are also rising. Last year, the US Government Accountability Office assessed that the F-35 isn't hitting mission-capable goals and hasn't for years. On a company earnings call in April, Taiclet said the fifth-gen plus upgrade focused on better capabilities at a lower cost but details were sparse. "We're basically going to take the [F-35] chassis and turn it into a Ferrari," he said. Autonomous or uncrewed capabilities in aircraft have been a top priority for the US Air Force. Its Collaborative Combat Aircraft initiative has focused on unmanned aircraft capable of operating alongside piloted aircraft or autonomously for a variety of missions. Air Force leadership has touted these "loyal wingmen" as not only giving pilots a variety of options for how to employ them — as sensors, weapons carriers, or jamming platforms — but also offering the possibility of having enough with lower costs than crewed aircraft. That could be key in a conflict with a peer adversary, like China or Russia. A pilot could direct a CCA on missions too dangerous for crewed fighters. At the conference, Taiclet said Lockheed Martin's interest in pilot-optional F-35s lent itself to the CCA. "We're thinking of the F-35 not just as a standalone aircraft, but how it can interface with sixth generation and with unmanned aircraft and itself be optionally manned," he said. Efforts for F-35 autonomy would be similar to the Air Force's AI-guided F-16 fighter jet that's been used in recent years to test AI pilots. The aircraft is part of the Air Force and Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA)'s AI fighter jet pilot program, which has been working on testing, iterating, and updating AI agents to fly the jet. Last year, then-Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall flew in the X-62A pilot by AI, "witnessing several AI agents as they autonomously maneuvered the X-62 against a manned F-16 in dogfighting engagements," an Air Force official said at the time. Those manned-unmanned dogfights have been ongoing and the service has said it's learning a lot of information from them, especially on how autonomous aircraft could aid or support manned pilots. Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
a day ago
- Business
- Business Insider
The F-35 could be 'pilot optional' in the not-too-distant future, Lockheed Martin CEO says
Lockheed Martin is developing an advanced version of its F-35 stealth fighter jet that could potentially be uncrewed, the company's CEO said on Wednesday. Speaking at the Bernstein's 41st Annual Strategic Decisions Conference, CEO Jim Taiclet floated the possibility of an F-35 whose pilot could be "optional" within a "relatively modest time frame." He outlined what he called "fifth-gen-plus" aircraft, where within two or three years both the F-35 and the older F-22 Raptor would feature several capabilities, including stealth coatings, electronic warfare improvements, and an unspecified weapons improvement, he said. Lockheed is repurposing much of this tech from its failed bid for the F-22 Raptor replacement, advances whose capabilities could rival those of the winning jet design at a much lower cost. Boeing secured the contract for the US Air Force's Next-Generation Air Dominance program, or NGAD, to develop the sixth-generation F-47. Lockheed Martin didn't protest the decision. "Our target is 80% of the capability of an NGAD sixth-generation at 50% of the unit costs," Taiclet said. These improvements would be introduced in stages, he said, with consideration to how the aircraft will be integrated with other systems. Some updates could be done in two to three years for "a meaningful increase in capacity," Taiclet said. That includes stealth coatings on the aircraft's surface and adjustments to its shape, as well as electronic warfare and weapons capabilities upgrades. Sixth-generation are a class of aircraft whose stealth, speed, automation and extended range are expected to make them the world's premier aircraft as they enter service in the 2030s. More than 1,200 F-35s have already been delivered to the US and 12 additional countries' militaries. The F-35 program has hit several snags over the years, including costs and goals. The lifetime F-35 program costs top $2 trillion, and sustainability costs are also rising. Last year, the US Government Accountability Office assessed that the F-35 isn't hitting mission-capable goals and hasn't for years. On a company earnings call in April, Taiclet said the fifth-gen plus upgrade focused on better capabilities at a lower cost but details were sparse. "We're basically going to take the [F-35] chassis and turn it into a Ferrari," he said. AI-guided fighters Autonomous or uncrewed capabilities in aircraft have been a top priority for the US Air Force. Its Collaborative Combat Aircraft initiative has focused on unmanned aircraft capable of operating alongside piloted aircraft or autonomously for a variety of missions. Air Force leadership has touted these "loyal wingmen" as not only giving pilots a variety of options for how to employ them — as sensors, weapons carriers, or jamming platforms — but also offering the possibility of having enough with lower costs than crewed aircraft. That could be key in a conflict with a peer adversary, like China or Russia. A pilot could direct a CCA on missions too dangerous for crewed fighters. At the conference, Taiclet said Lockheed Martin's interest in pilot-optional F-35s lent itself to the CCA. "We're thinking of the F-35 not just as a standalone aircraft, but how it can interface with sixth generation and with unmanned aircraft and itself be optionally manned," he said. Efforts for F-35 autonomy would be similar to the Air Force's AI-guided F-16 fighter jet that's been used in recent years to test AI pilots. The aircraft is part of the Air Force and Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA)'s AI fighter jet pilot program, which has been working on testing, iterating, and updating AI agents to fly the jet. Last year, then-Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall flew in the X-62A pilot by AI, "witnessing several AI agents as they autonomously maneuvered the X-62 against a manned F-16 in dogfighting engagements," an Air Force official said at the time. Those manned-unmanned dogfights have been ongoing and the service has said it's learning a lot of information from them, especially on how autonomous aircraft could aid or support manned pilots.
News18
a day ago
- Automotive
- News18
F-22 Raptor: The 5th-Gen Fighter Jet That US Won't Sell
Last Updated: The US-built F-22 Raptor, developed by Lockheed Martin and Boeing, is a top fifth-generation fighter jet with stealth, supercruise, and unmatched agility In an era where warfare is increasingly defined by speed, stealth, and supremacy in the skies, fifth-generation fighter jets have become the ultimate symbols of military might. As nations race to outpace one another in aerospace technology, the United States, China, and Russia lead the charge, each wielding their own cutting-edge aircraft. But among them, one machine continues to soar above the rest, the US-built F-22 Raptor. Developed jointly by Lockheed Martin and Boeing, the F-22 Raptor was first tested in 1997 and officially inducted into the US Air Force by 2005. With a minuscule radar cross-section, the F-22 is nearly invisible to enemy radar systems, allowing it to infiltrate hostile airspace undetected. Powered by twin Pratt & Whitney F119-PW-100 engines generating a combined 70,000 pounds of thrust, the jet is capable of 'supercruise", sustained supersonic flight without the use of fuel-guzzling afterburners. It cruises at speeds exceeding Mach 1.5 (approximately 1,850 km/h) and can climb to altitudes over 50,000 feet. Its agility in the air is unmatched, thanks to thrust vectoring technology that allows the jet to pivot and roll with astonishing precision. In dogfights, this maneuverability makes it nearly impossible to pin down. Equipped with the AN/APG-77 radar, the jet can detect and track enemies at long range. With sensor fusion technology, it delivers a 360-degree battlefield view to its pilot, offering a critical edge in complex air combat situations. Weapons-wise, the Raptor carries a lethal mix. It can house six AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, two AIM-9 Sidewinders, a 1,000-pound GBU-32 JDAM smart bomb, and a 20mm M61A2 Vulcan cannon with 480 rounds, making it equally deadly against both airborne and ground threats. The F-22 was designed for air superiority. It's faster, topping Mach 2.25 (nearly 2,700 km/h), and more agile due to its advanced thrust vectoring. The F-35, on the other hand, is a versatile, multi-role combat aircraft tailored for a broader range of missions: air-to-ground strikes, electronic warfare, and intelligence gathering. It comes in three variants for the Air Force (F-35A), Marines (F-35B for vertical landing), and Navy (F-35C for carrier operations). Though slower and less nimble, the F-35's strength lies in its adaptability and digital warfare capabilities, including its AN/APG-81 radar and Electro-Optical Targeting System. Despite its staggering capabilities, the F-22 remains exclusive to the United States. In 1998, Congress enacted a strict ban on its export, citing the need to safeguard its highly classified stealth and avionics systems. The fear? That this top-tier technology might fall into adversarial hands. Indeed, those fears weren't unfounded. In 2016, China was caught attempting to steal design blueprints of the F-22, F-35, and C-130 transport aircraft. Since then, Washington has doubled down on keeping the Raptor within American borders. Allies such as Japan, Israel, and Australia have repeatedly expressed interest in acquiring the F-22. In one case, Lockheed Martin even proposed a hybrid model combining features of the F-22 and F-35 for Japan. But concerns over cost and export laws killed the deal. Instead, the US has promoted the more widely available – and export-friendly – F-35, which shares some DNA with the Raptor but lacks its specialised air dominance pedigree. India recently greenlit its own 5th-gen Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) programme. While promising, it remains years away from operational deployment. For now, India, like many others, watches from the sidelines as the trio of aerial superpowers – the US, China, and Russia – unfold their futuristic wings. Watch India Pakistan Breaking News on CNN-News18. Get breaking news, in-depth analysis, and expert perspectives on everything from geopolitics to diplomacy and global trends. Stay informed with the latest world news only on News18. Download the News18 App to stay updated! First Published:
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Business Standard
a day ago
- Politics
- Business Standard
US made a terrible mistake when it deported this Chinese rocket scientist
In 1950, though it didn't know it yet, the American government held one of the keys to winning the Cold War: Qian Xuesen, a brilliant Chinese rocket scientist who had already transformed the fields of aerospace and weaponry. In the halls of the California Institute of Technology and MIT, he had helped solve the riddle of jet propulsion and developed America's first guided ballistic missiles. He was made a colonel in the US Air Force, worked on the top-secret Manhattan Project and was sent to Germany to interrogate Nazi scientists. Dr Qian wanted the first man in space to be American — and was designing a rocket to make it happen. Then he was stopped short. At the height of his career, there came a knock at the door, and he was handcuffed in front of his wife and young son. Prosecutors would eventually clear Dr Qian of charges of sedition and espionage, but the United States deported him anyway — traded back to Communist Beijing in a swap for about a dozen American prisoners of war in 1955. The implications of that single deportation are staggering: Dr Qian returned to China and immediately persuaded Mao Zedong to put him to work building a modern weapons program. By the decade's end, China tested its first missile. By 1980, it could rain them down on California or Moscow with equal ease. Dr Qian wasn't just rightly christened the father of China's missile and space programs; he set in motion the technological revolution that turned China into a superpower. His story has been top of mind for me (I've been working on a biographical book project on him for several years now) as we've watched the Trump administration ruthlessly target foreign students and researchers. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio turned up the pressure, announcing that the administration would work to 'aggressively revoke' visas of Chinese students, including those with ties to the Chinese Communist Party or who are studying in 'critical fields.' There are some one million foreign students in the United States — more than 250,000 of them Chinese. Dr Qian's deportation should serve as an important cautionary tale. It proved an American misstep, fueled by xenophobia, that would forever alter the global balance of power. In an echo of the current moment, he became a target of the hysteria around Senator Joseph McCarthy's Red Scare because he was a Chinese national and a scientist. He was humiliated when his security clearance was revoked. The price paid for shunning Dr Qian has been dear. Not only did the United States miss a chance to leapfrog the Soviet Union in manned spaceflight; it gave China the one resource it lacked to challenge American dominance in Asia: significant scientific prowess. In addition to closing that gap, his return to China ushered in generations of homegrown Chinese scientific breakthroughs. To this day, Washington spends billions of dollars on a nuclear umbrella shielding our Pacific allies from his technical achievements. When asked about America's deportation of Dr Qian, the former Navy Secretary Dan Kimball said, 'It was the stupidest thing this country ever did.' Dr Qian came to the United States as a young man of 23. He benefited from a scholarship that now seems to represent a vanished mind-set: the idea that international educational exchange would promote American values and foster world peace. Edmund James, the American representative in Beijing, set up the fund that brought Dr Qian and other students like him to the United States. 'The nation which succeeds in educating the young Chinese of the present generation,' Dr James wrote to President Teddy Roosevelt, 'will be the nation which for a given expenditure of effort will reap the largest possible returns in moral, intellectual and commercial influence.' By the 1960s, three-quarters of China's 200 most eminent scientists, including future Nobel Prize winners, had been trained in America, thanks to Dr James. In California, Dr Qian joined up with a group of other promising young scientists who called themselves the Suicide Squad, after at least one of their early experiments blew up a campus lab. At an annual meeting of engineers, two of the squad members announced they had worked out how to create a rocket capable of flying 1,000 miles vertically above the earth's surface. Soon they acquired a more official name: the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In 1949, Dr Qian was chosen to lead the laboratory, which by then was the precursor to NASA. He not only wanted to help the United States win the space race, but he also unveiled plans to use rockets in air travel to allow passengers to get from New York to Los Angeles in less than an hour. Was Dr Qian a spy? Was he a Communist? There was no convincing evidence of either, but it's unclear whether the American government ever cared. Protests by top defense officials and academics, including J. Robert Oppenheimer, who worked with Dr Qian on the Manhattan Project, went unheeded. After five years under house arrest, Dr Qian was begging the Chinese government to help him escape the United States. State Department documents, now declassified, suggest that Dr Qian had become a highly undervalued pawn in the eyes of the Eisenhower administration, traded back to China for US airmen. The Chinese premier, Zhou Enlai, speaking triumphantly about the negotiations, said: 'We had won back Qian Xuesen. That alone made the talks worthwhile.' Dr Qian never returned to the United States and served the rest of his life as a celebrated leader of the Chinese Communist Party. He is seen as a national hero, too, with a museum built to honor his accomplishments. Most of his remarks in his later years were either technical documents or party propaganda against America. In 1966, however, one of his former Caltech colleagues received a postcard decorated with a traditional Chinese drawing of flowers and postmarked in Beijing. On it Dr Qian had written simply, 'This is a flower that blooms in adversity.' Mr. Rubio's announcement, although short on details, has surely set off waves of anxiety among international students and their colleagues at research universities, as schools and laboratories brace themselves for further disruption. Something larger has been lost, though: America once saw educating the strivers of the world as a way to enhance and strengthen our nation. It was a strategic advantage that so many of the best and brightest thinkers, scientists and leaders wanted to study here and to be exposed to American democracy and culture. Dr Qian's achievements on behalf of China demonstrate the risk of giving up that advantage and the potential dark side of alienating — rather than welcoming — the world's talent. There's always the chance that it will someday be used against us.
New York Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Illegal aliens arrested in death of Air Force cadet candidate had suitcases packed: report
Packed suitcases were found during the arrests of two illegal aliens charged in the death of an Air Force cadet candidate over the weekend. Over Memorial Day weekend, 18-year-old Ava Moore was killed while kayaking on Lake Grapevine in Texas after she was hit by a jet ski. The suspected driver of the jet ski and a man who allegedly helped her flee, both illegal aliens from Venezuela, were arrested in Dallas Tuesday. Daikerlyn Alejandraa Gonzalez-Gonzalez, 22, was charged with second-degree manslaughter, a felony. Maikel Coello Perozo, 21, is accused of picking her up and fleeing. Authorities allege Perozo hit another vehicle while speeding off. He has been charged with a collision involving damage to a vehicle and hindering apprehension, both misdemeanors. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by FOX 4, the suspects were found with their bags packed at the time of their arrests. Perozo reportedly told police he helped Gonzalez flee so she could avoid being captured. 4 Ava Moore was killed while kayaking in Texas. US Air Force / Instagram The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department led the investigation. President Donald Trump's Department of Homeland Security on Thursday slammed the previous administration for open-border policies it says led to the death of the Air Force cadet candidate. 'Ava Moore was a patriot serving her country when she was killed by an illegal alien in a hit-and-run over Memorial Day weekend. This senseless tragedy was 100 percent preventable,' DHS said in a post on X. 4 Daikerlyn Alejandraa Gonzalez-Gonzalez was charged with second-degree manslaughter and Maikel Coello Perozo was accused of picking her up and fleeing the scene. Texas Parks and Wildlife 'Daikerlyn Gonzalez and Maikel Perozo entered the US illegally in 2023 and were released into our interior,' the post continued. 'The previous administration's open border policies have cost too many Americans their lives. President Trump and Secretary Noem will continue to stand with victims of illegal alien crime and their families.' At a news conference Wednesday, Joshua Johnson, acting field director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Emergency Removal Operations in Dallas, first confirmed the pair were present in the United States illegally. 4 The suspects were found with their bags packed at the time of their arrests. Grapevine Police Department 'It's my understanding that both the individuals crossed the southern border in 2023 or 2024,' Johnson said. 'They were arrested at the time of entry, processed on a notice to appear and then released on their own recognizance.' He said ICE filed detainers for the suspects, and they will be processed for removal after criminal proceedings are concluded in Texas. Moore was remembered as a star basketball player whose lifelong dream was to be a four-star general in the military, according to her coach at the US Air Force Academy Preparatory School in Colorado. 4 Moore's lifelong dream was to be a four-star general in the military. CBS News Texas / YouTube 'You know, we talked throughout the course of the year that, at some point in her career, she was going to be a four-star general because she loved it,' Ke'sha Blanton told FOX 4. 'She made those around her better. 'They took a bright, bright star from our lives.' Moore was scheduled to begin as an Air Force cadet in the upcoming weeks and was part of the US Air Force Academy's Class of 2029, the school confirmed. Peter D'Abrosca joined Fox News Digital in 2025 after four years as a politics reporter at The Tennessee Star. He grew up in Rhode Island and is a graduate of Elon University.
