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☆ The US Air Force is tinkering with an unusual design for its biggest planes as it prepares for a potential long-range war with China
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-20 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The US Air Force sees all those qualities as vital for success in a war in the Pacific region. US Air Force/Air Force AssociationThe design blends the wings and the fuselage, "decreasing aerodynamic drag by at least 30% and providing additional lift," the Air Force said in a release. A US Air Force flight engineer guides an R-11 Refueler next to a C-5M cargo plane at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware in March. A C-130 Hercules lands at Northwest Field, next to Andersen Air Force Base on Guam in February 2010. JetZero has already unveiled a Blended Wing design that the company says will provide a midmarket commercial airliner that's more efficient than the planes it seeks to replace.

Persons: Frank Kendall, Kendall, Air and Space Forces Association . Chaudhary, O'Leary, Tom O'Leary, JetZero, Marco Gomez, Ravi Chaudhary, we've, Tom Jones, Albert Miller, Andrew G, Miller, Jones, Chaudhary, Kathleen Hicks Organizations: Pentagon, US Air Force, Service, Air Force, Air and Space Forces Association ., Air Force Association, The Air Force, Dover Air Force Base, Staff, Northrop Grumman, China's, Air Mobility Command, Northwest Field, Andersen Air Force Base, Refueling, KC, Air Force's, Department Locations: Pacific, Wall, Silicon, China, Delaware, Guam

☆ Eyeing China in the Pacific, US studies explosives to make missiles fly further
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Mike Stone | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

China views the U.S. in the Pacific as a threat, ramping up its own military presence in response. "Unfortunately, the Pentagon has grown complacent using 1940s-era energetics and neglected advanced energetics like CL-20 that are necessary to increasing the range and lethality of our force. In the last decade, when explosive weapons were used in populated areas, 90% of those reported killed or injured globally were civilians." The House version does not name any weapons, but Bob Kavetsky with the Energetics Technology Center said candidates for the new chemicals include the Lockheed Martin-made (LMT.N) long range anti-ship missiles and extended range air-to-surface missiles. Other candidates include Harpoon anti-ship missile made by Boeing (BA.N) and Javelin anti-tank weapons made by Lockheed and RTX (RTX.N).

Persons: U.S . Navy Arleigh, Burke, Curtis Wilbur, Read, Mike Gallagher, Kathleen Hicks, Tom Karako, Karako, Iain Overton, Bob Kavetsky, Lockheed Martin, Mike Stone, Chris Sanders Organizations: U.S . Navy, Pacific Vanguard, U.S . Naval, Pentagon, Reuters, Democrat, Republican, Navy, Energetics Technology Center, Northrop Grumman Corp, CL, L3Harris Technologies, Department of Defense, Army, Air Force, energetics, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Lockheed, Boeing, Thomson Locations: Australia, Japan, Republic of Korea, U.S, Philippine, WASHINGTON, Pacific, China, California, United States, Washington

☆ US senators to get classified White House AI briefing Tuesday
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File PhotoWASHINGTON, July 10 (Reuters) - The White House will brief senators Tuesday on artificial intelligence in a classified setting as lawmakers consider adopting legislative safeguards on the fast-moving technology. ET briefing, organized by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and other senators, will be the first-ever classified Senate briefing on AI and will take place in a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF) at the U.S. Capitol. The briefers will include Avril Haines, director of National Intelligence; Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy director Arati Prabhakar and National Geospatial Intelligence Agency Director Trey Whitworth. Congress is narrowly divided and has not reached any consensus on AI legislation. In April, the CEOs of ChatGPT developer OpenAI, its backer Microsoft (MSFT.O), and Alphabet (GOOGL.O) met with Biden and other officials to discuss AI.

Persons: Elizabeth Frantz, Chuck Schumer, Avril Haines, Kathleen Hicks, Arati Prabhakar, Trey Whitworth, Schumer, Biden, David Shepardson, Chris Reese Organizations: U.S, Capitol, REUTERS, WASHINGTON, Senate Democratic, U.S . Capitol, National Intelligence, White, Office of Science, Technology, National Geospatial Intelligence, Microsoft, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, U.S

☆ Going to war? Good news! The United States is 13 years behind in ammunition production.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Since production capacity changed after the Cold War, the US can no longer keep up with wartime demands. In fulfilling those promises, The New York Times reported the US has sent Ukraine so many stockpiled Stinger missiles that it would take 13 years of production at recent capacity levels to replace them. US officials in January proposed a production increase up to 90,000 rounds of 155mm ammunition each month to keep up with demand. The United States has rarely seen production shortages in ammunition and missiles to the degree the country currently faces. While improvements to production facilities have been budgeted for going forward, the US is currently pushing suppliers to capacity to meet current wartime demands in Ukraine and keep pace with China's production.

☆ Biden wants $886 billion defense budget with eyes on Ukraine and future wars
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Mike Stone | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The total amount of the 2024 budget proposal is $28 billion more than last year's $858 billion. Congress has passed an annual defense budget for more than 60 years. Biden's budget request also speeds the Department of Defense's pace for buying the stealthy F-35 fighter jet to 83. The 2023 budget request asked for 61 F-35 jets made by Lockheed Martin and Congress increased that number to 77. The budget would benefit the biggest U.S. defense contractors including Lockheed, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N) and General Dynamics Corp (GD.N).

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