Free Republic

The Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base has a long history of leading the cutting edge of aeronautical technology. With the airborne laser program, the center is leading the way in yet another area of futuristic weaponry, this time the use of directed energy, more commonly known as lasers. "Directed energy is transformative. It changes the way we fight wars," said Michael Rinn, deputy program manager for the airborne laser for The Boeing Co. The airborne laser is seen as a pathfinder for directed energy programs, working through the development issues of the new technology that...

XCOR Aerospace Friday announced a milestone in its development of a rocket engine to power the racing aircraft of the Rocket Racing League, a NASCAR-like series of aerial races planned to begin next year. The Mojave-based rocket-engine company completed testing the design of the 1,500 pound-thrust engine, powered by liquid oxygen and kerosene. The test-firings, using a test stand, were completed at XCOR's facility at the Mojave Airport. "We have performed multiple runs of increasing duration," said XCOR CEO Jeff Greason. "The requirements are for a reliable and robust engine. We are on the right track with the workhorse engine...

PALMDALE: Northrop Grumman Corporation has completed an upgrade of the U.S. Air Force's B-2 stealth bomber that allows the aircraft to deliver five times its previous capacity of independently targeted, “smart'' (GPS-guided) weapons. Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor for the B-2, which remains the only long-range, large payload aircraft that can penetrate deep into protected airspace. Combined with superior airspace control provided by the F-22 Raptor and global mobility provided by tanker aircraft, the B-2 ensures an effective U.S. response to threats anywhere in the world. The SBRA upgrade program enhances the B-2's ability to respond to current and...

ALONG THE SAUDI BORDER - We knew the movie took a strange twist, stranger than usual, when we heard the lieutenant shout over the radio, "Get back to the vehicles! The nomads are coming!" Except, it wasn't a movie. It was happening. Real life just felt like a movie. Armed bedouins, land mines, sporadic ambushes, camel caravans. Like Frank L. Baum's mythical land of Oz, some of the Middle East was wonderful. Some of it was terrible. And more than a few G.I.s daily felt like Dorothy searching for the ruby slippers. "I, for one, would just like to go...