Everyone knows that the F-35 is a stealth aircraft. This is one element of what makes it a fifth-generation aircraft. But what is not widely known is that the stealth or low observable (LO) character of the aircraft is significantly different from other stealth aircraft like the F-22. The F-35…
When NASA’s X-43 flight test vehicle separated from its Pegasus rocket booster and accelerated to high-Mach speeds powered by an air-breathing scramjet, the premise and promise of hypersonic flight were forever validated. With a first Mach-7 flight in March 2004, followed by a Mach-10 flight in November 2004, the hydrogen-burning…
This article features an interview with Randy Brown, 308th Armament Systems Wing Director, and Lieutenant Colonel Amanda Kato, 681st Armament Systems Squadron Commander, 308th Armament Systems Wing, Air Armament Center, Air Force Materiel Command, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. This squadron is responsible for the acquisition, production, and sustainment of…
This article provides an overview of the C-5 modernization effort.
There are three broad categories of cost - development, procurement and sustainment; each of which is driven by a different set of factors. While development and procurement costs attract the most attention from the media and from Congress, they account for just 40% of total weapons system cost.
The economic battle for jobs and capital investment pits the Pacific Northwest against a rising challenger in the Southeast. (...) The Southern Aerospace Corridor's business-friendly climate recently led Boeing, much to the disappointment of political and labor leaders in the Northwest, to select South Carolina as the site of a…
The rising cost of weapons systems often gets confusing, because there are many different types of costs. On balance, the aerospace industry does a great job in providing the tools, technology, and machines to keep us safe. Yes there are occasional problems, but it behooves us all to consider the…
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 System...
