The Air Force has invested billions of dollars in technology inside its two most modern fighter jets, the F-35 and F-22. Their sensors give pilots an almost omniscient power of situational awareness.
Yet there is one thing that technology does not allow them to do: Talk to each other.
It’s a stunning gap in capability — the two aircraft cannot currently transmit and receive information between each other because they use different secure data links using different waveforms. In all fairness, this is not traditional radio comms, but “stealth” communication that aims to be undetectable by adversaries.
Nevertheless, the Air Force has known about this problem for years, but apparently it was not considered an urgent concern because there were not really that many F-35s in the fleet. Now, however, that is changing.
Defense contractor Northrop Grumman says its got a fix for the problem and can create a data link between the two aircraft, and they are just waiting for the Air Force to approve it. That would probably be a good idea.
The crew of the Research Vessel Petrel, led by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, is on a roll.
The Defense Department on March 8 announced that troops deployed to Niger, Mali and northern Cameroon qualify to receive imminent danger pay/hostile fire pay, retroactive to June 7, 2017.
The other services should pay attention.
The daggers flew this weekend when a disparaging military rant by a California high school teacher went viral.
A technical sergeant from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada came under fire recently after she shared a racially-charged, expletive-laced rant to Facebook.
The House version of the annual defense bill would have DOD purchase two million pounds of bison meat annually.
Collateral misconduct by the victim is one of the most significant barriers to reporting a sexual assault, said Andrea Goldstein, the Navy Department’s assistant director for force resiliency.
The Pentagon's current message is "business as usual."
Historically a mirror version of the active-duty side, reservists are taking the lead in some areas
"It was clear from the onset and confirmed throughout our visit that volunteers played a critical role in the defense of Kyiv, yet their role has not been systematically studied."
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