Michael Marrow

“We have 141 bombers in the inventory,” said Air Force Gen. Thomas Bussiere. “The demand signal for the bombers is greater than any time I’ve seen in my career, across the fabric of every geographic combatant command.”

As a new administration is set to take the reins of the Pentagon, the counter-drone strategy revealed today is meant to “lay a foundation for the Department to be able to get after this threat in a way that will be successful and get ahead of the evolution that we're seeing,” a DoD official said.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall recently suggested his service could take over the task of defending its air bases from the Army, as long as adequate funding was provided.

The so-called “handshake deal” precedes a formal contract finalization, which Lockheed expects will occur before the end of 2024.

“By all indications, sUAS will present a safety and security risk to military installations and other critical infrastructure for the foreseeable future,” said NORTHCOM chief Gen. Gregory Guillot.

DoD Comptroller Mike McCord additionally predicted that the current continuing resolution will extend until March, as the Republican Party looks to craft a “two percent better deal” once it controls Congress and the presidency come January.

The Air Force is nearing a decision on whether to recompete an ejection seat contract held by Collins. If the service changes course, it will send shockwaves through the duopoly that fights over every potential ejection seat sale.

To help fight inflation, the Pentagon was given $1.05 billion to disperse to industry. Now, documents reviewed by Breaking Defense and interviews with key officials reveal how and why certain programs won out.

The Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft program is expected to carry out its first flight next year and field operational drone wingmen by the end of the decade.

An electrical malfunction crippled some of the plane's systems, but a Marine Corps investigation still said the pilot was at fault for the crash in South Carolina.