Last week was one for the books. US President Donald Trump rebranded the Department of Defense as the Department of War. And China held a remarkable parade and flyover in Beijing. It was clearly intended …
Articles by: "Bill Sweetman"
From its anonymous digs in Crystal City, the Pentagon’s high-rise civilian annex, the Joint Program Office for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning wrote $36 billion in contracts in 2023 alone. The program is still critical …
Selling combat aircraft against US competition has never been easy. Pentagon research budgets tend to push US fighters to the front of the technological pack, and Washington’s political clout slants the playing field even further. …
Ukraine’s massive drone strike against Russian air bases on 1 June should reverberate across all theaters of conflict. But there is one Western Pacific scenario where it could be very relevant indeed: a Chinese invasion …
We’re still feeling our way with this. The concept of fighter-like drones, called collaborative combat aircraft (CCAs), holds much promise to air forces, notably to the US Air Force as it contemplates war with China. …
Operation Highmast got underway in late April, as the British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales and supporting warships embarked on an eight-month deployment, also known as Carrier Strike Group 25, to the Pacific and …
An upcoming battle over defence acquisition will have repercussions for US military posture, particularly in the Pacific. The weapons that get bought in larger or smaller quantities, or are launched or cancelled, will indicate whether …
Let’s assume, as prudence demands we assume, that the United States will not at any predictable time go back to being its old, reliable self. This means its allies must be prepared indefinitely to lean …
When the F-47 enters service, at a date to be disclosed, it will be a new factor in US air warfare. A decision to proceed with development, deferred since July, was unexpectedly announced on 21 …
A growing consensus holds that the future of airpower, and of defense technology in general, involves the interplay of crewed and uncrewed vehicles. Such teaming means that more-numerous, less-costly, even expendable uncrewed vehicles can bring …
Year-end revelations of two new Chinese combat aircraft designs, the Chengdu J-36 and the Shenyang J-XX, should have put an end to the idea that China’s aerospace and defense industry just copies the West. Yet …
Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group’s J-36 scooped up most of the publicity around China’s late-December revelations, but a second combat type, one from Shenyang Aircraft and referred to for now as J-XX, was revealed at the …