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Testing of the Lockheed Martin Sniper Targeting Pod on board the B-1B Lancer bomber has been accelerated in recent and is nearly completed, leading to the Air Force's Air Combat Command plans to approve sending pod-equipped bombers on operational missions by mid-summer. Because the sniper pod is a desperately needed capability in theater, Edwards Global Power Bomber Combined Test Force and the 337th Test and Evaluation Squadron from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, combined the operational and developmental testing of a B-1B Lancer to accelerate the integration of the sniper targeting pod with the B-1B bomber. "Everyone at the here...

As the JSF founding members squirm for excuses to cut projected orders, anticipating the program's soaring costs consuming growing shares of local defense budgets, Israel is expected to become the first international customer to commit to the next generation stealth fighter, although the country has not formally joined the program as one of the 'founding members'. Bowing under unprecedented financial pressure, the U.K. is moving to axe the planned construction of one aircraft carrier, along with up to 88 F-35B (V/STOL) fighters that would be operating on board, saving about £7.6 billion in out-year budget. Financial issues have also led...

Lockheed Martin has marked successful entry into low rate initial production on the F-35 Lightning II Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS). The first production units have been delivered to Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Fort Worth, TX, for integration onto the aircraft. Embedded into the F-35's fuselage with an innovative faceted sapphire window, the low-drag, stealthy EOTS is the world's first and only sensor combining forward-looking infrared and infrared search and track functionality. The F-35 EOTS will provide Lightning II pilots with significant air-to-air and air-to-ground situational awareness in a single compact and completely passive sensor. "Our team looks forward to meeting...

The U.S. Air Force has confirmed to Aviation Week the existence of the so-called "Beast of Kandahar" UAV, a stealth-like remotely piloted jet seen flying out of Afghanistan in late 2007. The RQ-170 Sentinel, believed to be a tailless flying wing design with sensor pods faired into the upper surface of each wing, was developed by Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs (ADP), better known as Skunk Works. An Air Force official revealed Dec. 4 that the service is "developing a stealthy unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to provide reconnaissance and surveillance support to forward deployed combat forces." The UAV had been...

Australia has given its final approval for the first group of Joint Strike Fighters, worth $3 billion for 14 aircraft to be delivered in 2014. The Ministry of Defense said the F-35 aircraft will be handed over in the United States, ready to begin initial training and test activities and are to replace Australia's F/A-18F Super Hornets. Australia's first operational squadron will be based at Royal Australian Air Force Base Williamtown and will be ready for operations in 2018, a government statement said. The acquisition in 2014 is the first of three purchases for three squadrons totaling 72 planes, all...

The existence of a new secret plane photographed this week has been confirmed by the United States Air Force. The secret aircraft now has an official denomination: The RQ-170 Sentinel, a flying wing developed by Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works. The RQ-170 is a stealthy unmanned aircraft designed to "provide reconnaissance and surveillance support to forward deployed combat forces." It's flown by the 30th Reconnaissance Squadron at Tonopah Test Range, Nevada, under the Air Combat Command's 432d Wing at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada. The aircraft has a 65-foot wingspan, with a fat body and a blended wing design. It's...

Japan has grounded all of its F-15J fighters until it can figure out what exactly caused one of its F-15s to shed several parts during a recent air show. Seven pieces fell off the aircraft as it made a sharp turn.. This sort of thing makes Japan even more eager to find a modern fighter to replace its 118 F-4 and 202 F-15 aircraft. With China and Russia putting more new fighters into service, Japan sees a threat. Japan has made several efforts to buy the U.S. F-22, without success. The United States does not want to export its premier...

Israel is sticking to its guns on a demand the United States allow it to integrate its own electronic warfare suite in Lockheed Martin's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, even though the Americans have given the green light to install other Israeli systems in the jet. Israel wants to buy an initial batch of 25 F-35s, enough for one squadron, in fiscal 2012 and would like to acquire another 50. The U.S. Department of Defense and Maryland-based Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor in the program, want to finalize a contract with Israel as soon as possible. The main holdup has been...

Rather than risk having a hostile (or competing) nation obtaining the software that controls the inner workings of the new F-35 fighter-bomber, the U.S. has decided that no foreign country will have access to the source code (the plain text version of the code that is written by programmers, and then turned into the 0s and 1s by a compiler program so that it can operate inside the dozens of microprocessors inside the aircraft). Britain and Israel had threatened to back out of buying the F-35 if they could not get access to the source code (to make their own...

The Australian government has decided to buy 14 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters now and not review its larger commitment for operational squadrons for another few years. After weeks of discussions, Canberra says it will put A$3.2 billion ($3 billion) into the U.S.-based Lockheed Martin program to start receiving aircraft in 2014 for testing and training. The aircraft will operate in the U.S. The spending also will buy infrastructure and support. In 2012, the government then plans to make a decision on whether to proceed with buying at least 72 F-35s to equip three Royal Australian Air Force operational squadron. Plans...

Dubai 09: Lockheed adds probe to F-16 to attract India By Stephen Trimble Lockheed Martin is to add an all-new capability for the F-16 specifically to entice a massive order by the Indian air force. Lockheed has designed and demonstrated a probe refuelling system that extends from the right conformal fuel tank of the F-16IN, a proposed variant of the Block 60 tailored for India's 126-aircraft medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) requirement. The new probe-and-drogue refuelling capability was demonstrated to Indian pilots during flight trials performed in September in India, said Rick Groesch, Lockheed's regional vice-president for Middle East international...

While Israel is interested in purchasing the fifth-generation stealth Joint Strike Fighter from Lockheed Martin, it will likely hinge its order on US acceptance of its demand that Israeli defense industries be allowed to participate in the aircraft's production, senior defense officials said Thursday. On Monday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and discussed potential Israeli involvement in the production of the JSF, also known as the F-35. In the past, Israeli aerospace companies have been integrated into the production of aircraft purchased by the IAF. During their meeting, as well as a meeting...

A former engineer for defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. claims in a federal whistleblower lawsuit that the company knowingly used "defective" stealth coatings when building its F-22 Raptor stealth jets. Darrol Olsen, a stealth engineer who was fired by Lockheed in 1999, claims Lockheed "falsely certified" the coatings between September 1995 and June 1999, saying they had passed stealth tests and concealing results that showed otherwise. Olsen said in the lawsuit he was told to "stay out of it" when he complained to his superiors. The whistleblower suit was originally filed in October 2007 in California and was unsealed earlier...

The U.S. Navy conducted successful test flights Sept. 3 and 4 of two Trident II D5 Fleet Ballistic Missiles (FBMs) built by Lockheed Martin. The Navy launched the unarmed missiles from the submerged submarine USS West Virginia (SSBN 736) in the Atlantic Ocean. The Trident II D5 missile now has achieved 129 consecutive successful test flights since 1989 - a record unmatched by any other large ballistic missile or space launch vehicle. "These successful missile tests again demonstrate the readiness and reliability of the entire Trident II D5 Strategic Weapon System," said Melanie A. Sloane, vice president of Fleet Ballistic...

PICTURES: Lockheed Martin unveils first F-16 Block 52 ordered by Pakistan By Stephen Trimble Lockheed Martin today unveiled the first of up to 36 F-16 Block 52 fighters that could be sold to the Pakistan Air Force in a ceremony attended by the chiefs of both Pakistani US air forces. The so-called “Peace Drive I” programme brokered by the US government once called for Pakistan to buy up to 55 F-16s. That number has been reduced to firm orders for 12 single-seat F-16C and six F-16Ds. Pakistan also has signed options to buy 18 more F-16 Block 52s, all powered...

Navy to Build 6 Mini-Aegis Destroyers By Jung Sung-ki Staff Reporter The Navy plans to launch six 5,600-ton ``mini-Aegis'' destroyers between 2019 and 2026 in an effort to help facilitate coastal and blue-water operations, the service said Tuesday. The plan was unveiled in a report submitted to a National Assembly inspection of the Navy at the Gyeryongdae military compound in South Chungcheong Province. The medium-sized KDX-IIA destroyers equipped with SPY radar and close-in weapon systems will be a core part of the Navy's strategic mobile fleet led by 7,600-ton KDX-III destroyers, it said. The mobile fleet is to consist of...

UAE wants its fighters its own way Ivan Gale If the UAE signs for 60 Rafale fighter aircraft from France’s Dassault later this year, as some expect, in a deal valued at €6 billion (Dh32.2bn) to €10bn, it will be purchasing a jet more advanced than those being flown by the French air force. A more powerful engine, a new air-to-air missile and cutting-edge radar systems are some of the requirements the UAE has made to Dassault and its French partners Safran, Thales and MBDA, according to media reports. Such requests for upgrades and modifications have been a central theme...

An amateur historian says the wreckage of an Air Force jet believed lost at sea 54 years ago with two crewmen aboard has been found off the coast of Southern California. G. Pat Macha, who heads a group of volunteer searchers, said Monday that the plane was found earlier this month during a sonar survey for another aircraft near Los Angeles. Macha says divers matched a serial number on the wreckage to a Lockheed-Martin T-33A jet trainer. He believes the wreckage was a missing Air Force jet that departed Los Angeles International Airport on Oct. 15, 1955. Macha turned over...

Few details available about military mission ... except that it succeeded An Atlas 5 rocket has lifted off from Florida carrying a highly classified military satellite. The rocket launched into a nearly cloudless sky at 5:35 p.m. ET Tuesday. United Launch Alliance, a joint venture involving Lockheed Martin and Boeing, handled the launch. Eric Brian, a spokesman for the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, declined to say which branch of the military will command the satellite in orbit. Brian said the rocket carried a $500 million payload. The satellite was made by Lockheed Martin. United Launch Alliance...

U.S. weighing F-16 options for Iraq Wed Sep 2, 2009 7:23pm EDT By Jim Wolf WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force is crafting several options designed to meet an Iraqi request for Lockheed Martin Corp F-16 fighter aircraft, a senior Air Force official said on Wednesday. Whether new or refurbished, the F-16 is a potential key to fostering U.S. and Iraqi ability to operate together in the future, said Bruce Lemkin, the Air Force's point person for international affairs. "It is extraordinarily important," he told Reuters by telephone. "It's not just the airplane. It's the partnership that comes with...

Competition to supply planes to India sets up fierce bidding war By Jonathan Manthorpe, Vancouver Sun August 31, 2009 The Indian Air Force began flight trials last week of the six combat jets competing for a $12-billion contract to supply New Delhi with up to 186 multi-role advanced fighters. Competition is fierce to grab what is one of the largest arms deals to surface in the post-Cold War era. And, as always seems to be the case with arms deals and especially those involving India, the project is already mired in scandal and controversy. The focus of much speculation is...

Lockheed Martin Corp.'s Space Systems Co. said Monday it plans to cut about 800 employees, or 4.5% of its workforce, by the end of the year

Here is a video report on a new prototype military vehicle made by Lockheed Martin that flipped over while carrying a news crew. The crew was on board as Lockheed was showcasing the safety and maneuverability of the new JLTV, which they believe surpasses the Humvee used for so long by the military. Just prior to the test drive that went wrong, Lockheed officials had been bragging that in 50,000 miles of test driving, the JLTV had never flipped over. But, inexplicably, it flipped over shortly thereafter with the news crew on board. No word yet from Lockheed Martin as...

F-18s, F-16s racing to reach Bangalore for trials Prashanth G N, TNN 6 August 2009, 12:53am IST BANGALORE: F-18s and F-16s. The US fighter aircraft are in a neck and neck race to reach Bangalore for commencement of test trials by the IAF. The trials, to begin in the next three weeks, are a matter of pride for Bangalore as it is one among three locations selected, the other two being Leh and Jaisalmer. IAF will purchase 126 new fighter aircraft. Both aircraft had come in as recently as October 2008 for Aero India and were slugging it out even...

EDWARDS AFB - A veteran Lockheed Martin test pilot died in an F-22A crash after nearly losing consciousness during a high-speed, high-g test maneuver, according to an Air Force accident investigation report released Friday. The $140 million jet, assigned to Edward Air Force Base's 412th Flight Test Wing, crashed during a mission to test the effects of carrying weapons on the aircraft's performance. These tests involved a series of high-speed, high-performance maneuvers in which the pilot experienced several times the force of gravity. The accident investigation concluded that Cooley experienced such disorientation brought on by the high g-forces, and recovered...

Israel mulls buying South Korean fighter jets for training Jerusalem, Aug 2 (Xinhua) The Israeli Air Force is planning to purchase South Korea’s T-50 Golden Eagle fighter jets in a bid to replace its ageing Skyhawk fleet, the Ha’aretz daily reported Sunday. A three-member delegation of the Israeli Air Force is expected to visit Seoul next week to discuss the matter with their South Korean counterparts. This is the first time in 40 years that Israel is considering to purchase fighter jets outside the US. The report added that Israel is planning to purchase at least 30 jets to be...

WASHINGTON, July 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday killed new funding for the disputed F-22 fighter jet program as part of a $636.3 billion military spending bill that was expected to clear the chamber. House action on a vote of 269-165 to bury additional production of Lockheed Martin Corp's (LMT.N) F-22 solidified an important victory for the Obama administration on procurement reform and nullified a veto threat over the matter.

An intensifying arms race looms over Latin America because of copycat weapons buying triggered by recent military buildups in some countries and reactions of their neighbors, defense analysts said Wednesday. Heavy arms shopping by Venezuela, even before the war of words erupted over the June 28 Honduras coup and U.S. military facilities in Colombia, has followed bickering over cross-border arms trade, including Chilean military exports to Ecuador and other neighbors. As rearmament gathers pace, the continent's own defense industry has seen its markets challenged by overseas suppliers, especially China and Russia. Latin arms suppliers include Brazil's Embraer and Chile's Enaer....

Lockheed Martin has unveiled the first naval variant for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter programme in a roll-out ceremony at its final assembly plant in Fort Worth, Texas. '"It's an honour and a privilege and it is a great day", says Adm Gary Roughhead, chief of naval operations. The US Navy plans to operate 260 F-35C carrier variants among the 2,443 aircraft in the current US programme. "This airplane will top anything that comes it's way," Roughead adds. The first prototype CV model to roll off the production line - CF-1 - follows the debut of a conventional variant for...

SKorea, US team up to build and export Aegis warships by Staff Writers Seoul (AFP) July 22, 2009 US defence group Lockheed Martin and South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries will team up to build and export mid-size warships equipped with advanced Aegis weapons systems, an official said Wednesday. They signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in May 2006 to jointly produce Aegis-equipped guided missile ships, Hyundai Heavy spokesman Cho Woo-Tae told AFP. Cho said it is thought to be very rare for Lockheed to partner with a foreign company to produce Aegis-equipped vessels for possible sale to a third country....

The most remarkable thing happened in Washington this past Tuesday. Congress scrapped the F-22 stealth fighter jet, killing off a 30-year-old Pentagon hardware program that employs 25,000 people in 46 states. It was a dogfight almost to the end over $1.75 billion and the need to remake military readiness. Threats and promises, blunt talk and grand gestures -- all were deployed to support an appeal to common sense and for urgent change, according to principals involved. The White House coordinated the ultimately successful vote-wrangling, and its specific tactics may show up again in another epic battle now unfolding: getting Congress...

The ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee says the battle to fund more than 187 F-22 stealth fighters is not over, even though pro-Raptor forces suffered a stinging defeat in the Senate this week. Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon of California told HUMAN EVENTS the next F-22 war zone is a House-Senate committee conference on defense spending. There, as ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, McKeon will fight to preserve final bill language to provide for 12 more jets, as the House approved...Gen. John Corley, who heads Air Force Air Combat Command in Langley, Va., sent a...

Defense Spending: The TARP bailout may hit $24 trillion, but the Senate says the F-22 is too expensive to build and maintain. So why are the Japanese so desperate to buy this "unnecessary" Cold War weapon?By a vote of 58-40, the Senate on Tuesday voted to remove $1.75 billion set aside in a defense bill to build seven more F-22 Raptors, adding to the 187 stealth technology fighters already in the pipeline. After some hope the production lines would be kept open, the Senate succumbed to arguments by the administration and others that the fighter was too expensive, too hard...

The U.S. Senate voted 58-40 on Tuesday to halt production of the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter. The fighter is built by Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) through its Aeronautics unit based in Marietta, Ga. The F-22 program, to develop, build and buy the jets, is managed by Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The center is part of Air Force Materiel Command, a major command that also is headquartered there. The command executes cradle-to-grave research and acquisition of all Air Force weapon technology, including new aircraft. The Senate’s vote to trim $1.75 billion from a $680 billion defense...

The Washington Post reports that the F-22 amendment in the senate defense spending bill was voted down 58-40. Many have called this pork, and I’m inclined to agree with them. However, I’m confused by a few things, namely that taking the Obama administration’s stimulus logic full circle seems to justify the F-22 program. There are tons of stimulus projects that create less jobs and are of dubious merit. For an aviation related example look at the small airports that receive million of dollars and serve minuscule communities. I’m positive that the F-22 program would “save or create” far more jobs...

The U.S. Senate voted 58-40 on Tuesday to halt production of the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter. The fighter is built by Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) through its Aeronautics unit based in Marietta, Ga. The Senate’s vote to trim $1.75 billion from a $680 billion defense bill will lead to the loss of thousands of jobs across America, Lockheed has previously said. Production of the F-22 at the Marietta plant will now stop in 2012. However, the plant also builds the C-130J Hercules and will begin building the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Lockheed’s Aeronautics division employs about 2,000 people on...

Imagine a fighter jet that would give the United States complete air superiority in any conflict. An aircraft that’s faster, has longer range, and is more fuel-efficient at high speeds than any aircraft ever built. A plane virtually invisible to radar and deadly accurate, almost guaranteeing that any selected target would be destroyed. An aircraft so advanced that the armed forces of every country on earth are scared to death of it and know that they would be defenseless against it for years to come. We have that plane. It’s called the F-22 Raptor, and our President and Commander-in-Chief, Barack...

France's Dassault targets Lockheed in combat aircraft deal Ajai Shukla / New Delhi July 16, 2009, 0:30 IST The gloves are off in the competition to sell India 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) for an estimated Rs 50,000 crore. Two days after Business Standard reported on the sudden replacement of Lockheed Martin India’s CEO, Lockheed’s French rival, Dassault Aviation — whose Rafale fighter is pitched against Lockheed Martin’s F-16 IN in the MMRCA tender — is contemplating asking the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) to disqualify Lockheed Martin from the tender. The reason: sources in Dassault allege that Lockheed...

Without congressional intervention, the Air Force's ability to conduct air superiority missions will be increasingly at risk over the next three decades. President Obama's fiscal year (FY) 2010 defense budget request would stop production of the F-22A Raptor at just 187 aircraft and permanently shut down this production line.In reality, the F-22A program would actually end production at 186 fighters and not 187, because the March 2009 crash of an F-22 at Edwards Air Force Base involved a test aircraft not part of the official program of record. President Obama's decision to cap F-22A production at 186 fighters would in...

The F-22A Raptor is the world's most advanced fifth-generation fighter aircraft. The F-22A offers several unique features: thrust-vectoring engines, which make it highly maneuverable; the latest in stealth technology; an avionics system that can fuse information into a single display; and the ability to cruise at supersonic speeds at 50,000 feet. What makes the Raptor spectacular--and why its capabilities cannot simply be replaced by additional F-35 Joint Strike Fighters--is the F-22A's unique ability to accelerate beyond the threat and reposition for attack. Naturally, Congress is protective of these unrivaled technologies. Even though core allies like Japan and Australia have repeatedly...

With a whistleblower lawsuit against Lockheed Martin grabbing headlines for making the startling allegation that the US Air Force's top-of-the-line fighter, the F-22 Raptor, has been supplied defective stealth coatings, further information is now emerging from Pentagon sources that the F-22 programme is indeed the source of substantial worry for the defence establishment. Internal documents, as well as Pentagon officials, reveal that Lockheed Martin's F-22 now requires more than 30 hours of maintenance for every hour that it spends in the skies. This adverse ratio effectively pushes its hourly cost of flying to more than $44,000, which easily outstrips the...

In an unusual move, President Obama sent a letter to the leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee vowing to veto any defense bill that funds more Lockheed Martin F-22 fighter jets. Obama threw down the gauntlet as the Senate took up the 2010 defense authorization bill. The firm commitment to veto any defense bill containing funding for the F-22 puts Obama in a tough position: he would veto bills written by a Democratic Congress. The letter to Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) comes as the two senators introduced an amendment to strip $1.75 billion for seven...

Ex-F-22 engineer to sue Lockheed for stealth design By Stephen Trimble A stealth expert on the F-117 and B-2 programmes intends to file suit against Lockheed Martin later this week for concealing alleged deficiencies with the stealth coatings for the F-22. The pending lawsuit accuses Lockheed of knowingly providing defective coatings used to reduce the aircraft's radar and visual signatures, and covering up the problem by adding 272kg (600lbs) worth of extra layers. The lawsuit comes after the Department of Justice declined an opportunity under the Fair Claims Act to take up the case under seal. Now, Darrol Olsen, who...

India - Last Chance for Super Viper Posted by Graham Warwick at 6/23/2009 3:17 PM CDT I'll be delighted to be proved wrong, but I can't see Lockheed Martin's F-16IN as the front runner in India's 126-aircraft fighter competition, even if it has been rechristened the "Super Viper" (farewell, belatedly, to the unloved Fighting Falcon moniker). Artwork: Lockheed Martin Maybe I am being ageist. I became an aviation journalist in August 1978, the same month and year that the F-16 entered service. And that seems a long time ago to me. But I'm still writing and Lockheed is still building...

Defense: By a narrow margin, a House subcommittee has voted to keep open the F-22 Raptor production line. The future of American air dominance and the fate of the world's most capable fighter hang in the balance.On May 30, with North Korea huffing and puffing about nuclear war, the first of 12 high-tech U.S. F-22 Raptor fighter jets landed at Kadena Air Base on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa. It was just days after North Korea unnerved the region by detonating a nuclear device. There were reasons the F-22 was deployed to Japan. The stealthy, radar-evading fighter jet is...

U.S. defence industry giant Lockheed Martin said it is open to using some Indian components if chosen to supply the country's navy with its Aegis ballistic missile defense system. "Because of the way the Aegis combat system is constructed, there is the ability to put specific indigenous capabilities in portions of it," Ric Rushton, director for sea-based missile defense at the firm, said late Monday.

Sensitive data detailing launch procedures for a US military missile air defence system have been found on a second-hand computer hard drive bought on eBay. More than 300 hard disks were studied and researchers uncovered other sensitive information including bank account details, medical records, confidential business plans, financial company data, personal id numbers, and job descriptions. The drives were bought from the UK, America, Germany, France and Australia through computer auctions, computer fairs and on the online auction site eBay. The exercise was carried out by BT's Security Research Centre in collaboration with the University of Glamorgan in Wales, Edith...

4/27/2009 - EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) -- The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter test aircraft arrived here April 21 to educate the base and local community about the Department of Defense and world's newest fighter. The arrival of the test F-35, called AA-1, kicked off a week full of events to showcase the aircraft at Eglin Air Force Base. "We are very proud to host these JSF events," said Col. Arnold Bunch, the Air Armament Center vice commander. "We hope everyone has a chance to see the aircraft, ask questions and get a better understanding of its...

Finland Getting Top US Missiles? published Apr 1 05:32 PM, updated Apr 2 03:20 PM The Finnish Air Force is buying at least 200 million euros worth of new equipment for its F-18C Hornet jet fighters. American JASSM air-to-surface missiles may become the latest addition to Finnish fleets. The government’s financial affairs committee gave the go-ahead on Wednesday to buy the weapons from the US Navy. The hardware includes long-range air-to-ground missiles. The upgrade is part of a 17-year development programme with a total price tag of about one billion euros. Under the plan, the entire fleet of Hornet jets...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force on Monday endorsed the Pentagon in its plan to end production of Lockheed Martin Corp's top-of-the-line F-22 fighter jets after having pushed to buy more for years. "This is the time to make the transition from F-22 to F-35 production," Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and General Norton Schwartz, the service's top uniformed officer, wrote in an opinion piece in the Washington Post.