F-35 Back on Track?
Welcome to Morning Coffee, a robust blend of links to news around the Internet concerning Naval Air Station Patuxent River, NAVAIR, the Pentagon and beyond. The Leader provides this link feature as a survey of the news and announcements affecting the local military economy. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the Leader’s owners or staff.
F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin.
The Pentagon’s Defense Acquisitions Board met yesterday to discuss re-certification of the Joint Strike Fighter program and set initial operation dates for all three variants of the fighter jet, Defense News reports. The Star-Telegram concurs, but notes that the public notice about the meeting is hard to decipher. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that Lockheed has lost $31.5 million in performance bonuses for missing F-35 milestones.
Inside Defense reports that the Marines’ V-22 acquisitions budget remains untouched.
The Hill examines Congress’ positioning to place blame for defense cuts.
Aviation Week profiles the Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System, laser-guided helicopter rockets.
Iran is threatening a pre-emptive strike if threatened by U.S. or Israel, The Hill reports.
Contracts: Lockheed gets $28.4 million to produce 10,000 laser-guided training rounds; Sikorsky gets $20.5 million to rework presidential helicopters; and BAE Systems gets $9.2 million to procure antennae.
