Mark Lewis on Hypersonics: Taking a Logical Path

03/16/2010
By Mark J. Lewis Mark J. Lewis is chairman of Clark School’s Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park, and president-elect of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He was the chief scientist of the U.S. Air Force from 2004 to 2008. An earlier version…

Weapons Development: the Case of the Small Diameter Bomb I Block 9

03/15/2010
The 308th Armament Systems Wing at Eglin Air Force Base: Weapons Development and the Case of the Small Diameter Bomb I Block 9 In mid-February SLD had a chance to interview Randy Brown, 308th Armament Systems Wing Director, and Lieutenant Colonel Amanda Kato, 681st Armament Systems Squadron Commander, 308th Armament…

Towards Flexible Strategic Capability: The C5 Modernization Asset

01/12/2010
1/12/2010 An effective and flexible multi-mission capability is central to the strategic future of the United States. As the US engages in specific military or security campaigns, undoubtedly investments will have to be made on capabilities designed for specific operations. These specific or tailored solutions meet only a significantly limited…

General Hawley on: Why Weapons Systems Cost So Much – the 101 Version (Part Two)

01/05/2010
By Richard E. Hawley, General (Ret), USAF General Hawley served as the Commander, Air Combat Command and Commander US Air Forces in Europe.  Additionally he was the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition. *** PART TWO This is not an easy question to answer.  There are three…

A new Civil War Is Brewing Over Aircraft Production

12/21/2009
By George Talbot, Political Editor for the Mobile Press Register The economic battle for jobs and capital investment pits the Pacific Northwest against a rising challenger in the Southeast. The regional fight is fiercest over the U.S. Air Force tanker contract, a potential 179-plane order that could deliver thousands of aircraft assembly jobs either to Mobile, Alabama, or Everett,…

General Dunn on: Why weapons cost so much? (Part One)

12/20/2009
[caption id="attachment_3066" align="alignleft" width="500" caption="Steve Geary, Performance-Based Logistics: Buying Performance, Not Parts, The University of Tennessee, College of Business Administration, Supply Chain World Conference and Exposition, March 28, 2006 "][/caption] In this week’s contributions to understanding the challenge of providing capability to the warfighter, we have two assessments of the…

An American Perspective on the Defense Aerospace Industrial Base

12/14/2009
In a recent study published by the Mitchell Institute for Airpower studies, Rebecca Grant examines the challenges facing the future of the defense aerospace industrial base. Grant underscores the challenge of maintaining a viable defense aerospace industrial base over the next decades in the presence largely of simply one major…

A European Perspective on the Military Aerospace Industrial Base

12/14/2009
In June 2009, the Aircraft Sectoral Group (ASG) within the AeroSpace and Defense Industries Association of Europe (ASD) issued a thought piece on the future of European Air Power Systems entitled "European Future Air Power Systems in the 2035 Perspective". The ASG represents Alenia Aeronautica, BAE Systems, Dassault-Aviation, EADS Military…