A six-paragraph news release at 5:01 pm on Tuesday was all that marked the launch of one of the biggest US Navy projects of the 21st century: the service had picked Boeing, over Northrop Grumman, …
Articles by: "Bill Sweetman"
I’ve been a keen follower of the Lockheed Blackbird family since the headline ‘We have Mach 3 plane, says US’ appeared above a short item in London’s Daily Express in March 1964. The coolest thing …
‘There are weeks when decades happen’ has been a stock phrase to remember this summer. The missile wars between Ukraine and Russia and between Iran and the United States (and its nervous Middle Eastern allies) …
F-35 program leader Lieutenant General Greg Masiello delivered something of a lite-beer testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee last week, with many questions deferred to a closed session. But the discussion (transcript here) pointed …
More than a year ago, I speculated here about a connection between the forthcoming Boeing F-47, a modest technology demonstration program from the 1990s and a little-remembered pioneer of stealth. A set of images of …
The expertise of the South Asian sub-region is robust, so the title of Worst Defence Acquisition System is in safe hands. But Britain’s allies in a post-American world should worry that Blighty is as far …
The US Air Force just revealed that it was launching a study of a new heavy bomber that might replace the Boeing B-52. The analysis of alternatives in the FY27 budget will look at ‘future …
In London a few weeks ago, taking a break from grim Washington and catching some early spring weather, I met a British defence executive for coffee on the concourse of one of the city’s smaller …
Canada may well cancel part of its 2022 order for 88 Lockheed Martin F-35As and replace them with Saab JAS 39E Gripens. One report suggests that Ottawa might cut the order in half and accept …
Another element in the US Air Force’s plans for long-range operations, essential for Asia-Pacific deterrence, may have emerged from under cover of secrecy. It looks like we’ve just got a good view of a shadowy …
In a matter of weeks, the Trump administration has proclaimed a new national security strategy and declared war on the status quo in defence acquisition, via executive order. Defence contractors’ use of share buybacks and …
As 2025 recedes in the rear-view mirror, it’s time to look at the combat-aircraft stories that are likely to make news in 2026. Anyone waiting for the Xian H-20 shoe to drop over the holiday …