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Today marks the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Navy Strategic Systems Programs' first underwater launch of a Fleet Ballistic Missile, which was designed and built by Lockheed Martin The Polaris A1 missile successfully launched from the submerged USS George Washington (SSBN-598), the first ballistic missile submarine, July 20, 1960, off the coast of Cape Canaveral, Fla. This successful Navy test proved the capability of launching missiles from the natural protection of the deep sea, securing a strategic advantage to the nation. In 1956, as part of a Navy-industry research and development effort, the first Fleet Ballistic Missile, Polaris A1, became...

The US armed services will acquire more than 75% of all F-35s built, under current plans, with their requirements covering a "programme of record" for a combined 2,443 aircraft across the design's three variants. The exact numbers to be bought will doubtless change over the next few years, but Lockheed Martin cites long-used totals of 1,763 conventional take-off and landing F-35A Lightning IIs for the US Air Force, and 680 aircraft for the US Navy and Marine Corps. These will be split between the F-35C carrier variant and short take-off and vertical landing F-35B, respectively. Lockheed's eight international partners for...

More questions than answers are arising from the U.S. Navy/Air Force memorandum of agreement to coordinate efforts on their respective high-altitude reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). Signed June 12 by the services’ chiefs of staffs, the agreement aims to produce operational and financial efficiencies in the Air Force Global Hawk and Navy Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) programs, both of which are in development, though the USAF Global Hawk has a head start of many years on its younger cousin. Shared basing, maintenance, command and control, training, logistics and data exploitation are areas that could be ripe for efficiencies, says...

Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp. will compete jointly for the contract to replace the U.S. Air Force’s fleet of combat search and rescue helicopters. The two companies signed a teaming agreement formalizing their intent to offer an advanced version of Sikorsky’s UH-60M BLACK HAWK helicopter for the Air Force’s HH-60 Personnel Recovery Recapitalization program (HH-60 Recap). The agreement positions Sikorsky as prime contractor, with Lockheed Martin as the major subsystems supplier. The HH-60 Recap program seeks to replace the 112 existing HH-60G PAVE HAWK™ helicopter fleet with an equal number of new...

The U.S. Navy has extended by one year the time its first high-altitude drone will monitor oil shipments and other maritime activity in the Persian Gulf region, according to officials. Northrop Grumman Corp. built the plane, a demonstration version of its Global Hawk that's used by the Air Force, as the first model in a $9 billion Navy program for 68 unmanned planes to provide reconnaissance in five areas of the world. The aircraft has been flying over the Gulf region since February 2009 and was slated to end its patrols this year to undergo additional stateside testing and development....

The second great engine war, in which we are currently embroiled, offers many components of a fabulous story: national security, jet fighters, three great and combative companies, politicians and congressional experts and lobbyists and lots of cash. (So far we don’t have any sex, but a reporter can only hope.) Into that mix boldly strides a former F-16 pilot who just can’t keep his mouth shut while the second engine for the Joint Strike fighter’s fate is still uncertain. Read Robert Newton’s commentary on why he thinks the F-136 is a must have. Single engine fighter pilots have a special...

Flight testing of the F-35 joint strike fighter finally seems to be gaining momentum as Lockheed Martin and the Defense Department try to show that development of the next-generation combat jet is finally on track. Lockheed flew the ninth of the initial 13 flight-testing jets recently, counting the original prototype, which has already been retired. By week's end, the test program had completed 146 flights this year compared with the 128 planned, a pace that, if, sustained, would enable the full-year goal of 394 flights to be met or exceeded. Another measure of progress is the number of specific tests...

The first S-70iTM BLACK HAWK helicopter has successfully completed its first flight, officially launching an international variant and the newest Sikorsky Aircraft product to follow in the legacy of the BLACK HAWK helicopter. Aircraft 0001, the first in the new product line, was built at PZL Mielec, a Sikorsky Aircraft company in Poland. PZL Mielec has been established as the hub of the S-70i program for international customers. The successful first flight of the S-70i aircraft took place on July 1 at the Sikorsky Development Flight Center. "Aeronautical history was made with the first flight of the S-70i BLACK HAWK...

Nine of the original 14 F-35 flight test aircraft have flown after the debut on 6 July of the fourth conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant known as AF-3. The 42-min sortie began at 18:20, local time, outside Lockheed Martin's final assembly plant in Fort Worth, Texas, with company test pilot Bill Gigliotti at the controls. Area storms stopped the flight short, Lockheed says. After first flight of the fourth short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant BF-4 in April, AF-3's entry into the flight test programme means two aircraft are now dedicated to mission systems testing. Mission systems onboard...

The ninth Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter entered flight testing on Tuesday, becoming the second test jet to fly with the next-generation avionics package that will populate all operational F-35sThe F-35A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) variant, known as AF-3, flew for 42 minutes during its first flight. F-35 Test Pilot Bill Gigliotti took off at 6:20 p.m. and initiated a series of flying-qualities tests in a flight focused on propulsion and vehicle systems operation. Some mission systems data were collected before the flight was curtailed by storms in the area. "AF-3 is very much like the first...