JSF Could Be ‘Biggest White Elephants in History’
Morning Coffee is a robust blend of links to news around the internet concerning the Naval Air Station Patuxent River economic community. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the Leader’s owners or staff.
The UK’s former armed forces minister, Sir Nick Harvey, says the JSF could be “one of the biggest white elephants in history” in a scathing assessment of costs and delays reported by The Independent in a recap of the UK’s plan to purchase 130 of the fighter jets for a 2012 delivery.
The FAA announces a partnership with CNN, PrecisionHawk and BNSF Railway to advance commercialization opportunities for unmanned aircraft operations, reports UAS Magazine.
Now that US law allows selling armed drones abroad, the Army’s Shadow may be just the ticket for allies seeking an unmanned bomber suited to smaller budgets, reports Popular Science.
North Korea claims a successful ballistic missile test despite UN sanctions against such testing, reports Reuters.
Upon the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania in World War I, USNI notes it wasn’t the only notable passenger ship sunk during those years and presents a recap of some of them plus their images culled from a collection of over 3,000 original ship postcards recently donated to the archives of the U.S. Naval Institute.
Chemists at Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division receive national recognition for creation of a renewable, high-performance biofuel, reports NAVAIR News. NAWCWD is working with commercial partners to further develop the technology.
Tesla took in $800 million in potential revenue, says Bloomberg Business, since its April 30 announcement of its new storage batteries designed for homes and businesses. The under-construction 5-million-square-foot battery factory is already too small.
The Navy is working on a $1.6 billion upgrade of carrier defenses, reports Defense Tech, integrating technologies that track, identify and destroy threats such as incoming enemy supersonic missiles.
Civilian and military employees used Pentagon credit cards at casinos and for other adult activities, Politico reports on a recent Pentagon audit. Because expenses are submitted for reimbursement, the government did not necessarily pay these charges, according to an official. who suggested hiding the charges from a spouse might have been the motivation for using the government credit cards.
Twenty-four NAVAIR employees and officers completed a two-year master’s degree in systems engineering via the Naval Postgraduate School in April, reports NAVAIR News.
