Michael Marrow

6 days ago | breakingdefense.com | Michael Marrow

WASHINGTON — Boeing has told the US Air Force that the company’s long-troubled effort to deliver the nation’s next presidential jetliners could be sped up and handed over during the Trump presidency — as long as the aircraft’s requirements are relaxed, according to a top service official.

1 week ago | breakingdefense.com | Michael Marrow

WASHINGTON — Following a suspension of deliveries in late February, the US Air Force is ready to accept new KC-46A Pegasus refueling tankers from manufacturing Boeing as soon as next week, according to the service’s top acquisition official.

1 week ago | breakingdefense.com | Michael Marrow

WASHINGTON — An upgrade aimed at correcting problems with the Boeing KC-46 Pegasus’s troubled vision system has been delayed again and isn’t expected to be fielded until the summer of 2027, according to the Air Force. “The Air Force and Boeing are exploring opportunities to prevent or mitigate the slip in schedule,” an Air Force spokesperson added in a statement, without detailing the cause of the delay.

1 week ago | breakingdefense.com | Michael Marrow

WASHINGTON — The Air Force now believes its new nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles will “predominantly” require digging fresh missile silos, a significant change of plans to reuse existing silos and a move the service has previously assessed will come with major costs. To house the new Sentinel ICBM, officials previously planned to refurbish 450 existing silos currently used by the Sentinel’s predecessor, the aging Minuteman III (MMIII).

1 week ago | breakingdefense.com | Michael Marrow

WASHINGTON — Following an award from the Air Force Research Laboratory, rocket startup Ursa Major plans to take its new Draper engine to flight, which the company says can pave the way to a new generation of liquid fuel-based hypersonic propulsion for defense and commercial applications. The $28.6 million AFRL award issued today will mature the Draper engine and fund its maiden flight test, which Ursa Major CEO Dan Jablonsky told Breaking Defense is on track to take place by the end of this year.