F-35

FILE - An F-35 fighter jet arrives at the Vermont Air National Guard base in South Burlington, Vt, Sept. 19, 2019. Switzerland’s defense department says any delay to a planned multibillion-dollar acquisition of U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets would have “grave consequences” for Swiss security. On Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022 the Swiss government announced that campaigners had cleared the bar of more than 100,000 signatures of a petition by citizens calling for a referendum on the planned purchase of 36 of the Lockheed Martin-built jets. (AP Photo/Wilson Ring, File)

The troubled F-35 jet sure spreads the money around

No one knows what the F-35 aircraft can do in a war, say, over Taiwan. One thing we do know is the fifth-generation fighter, now something like 20 years…

Defense Industry

Rising robberies of postal workers make dog bites appear quaint

Federal Newscast

F-35 Lightning II Aircraft assigned to the 158th Fighter Wing, Burlington Air National Guard Base, prepare for takeoff, April 13, 2022, in Burlington, Vt. The first overseas deployment of the Vermont Air National Guard's F-35 fighter jets will have the pilots and their aircraft patrolling the skies of Europe during one of the most tense periods in recent history. More than 200 Vermont air guard personnel, their equipment and eight F-35s are now in Europe. (Staff Sgt. Cameron Lewis/U.S. Air National Guard via AP)

Air Force awards largest ever military construction contract for F-35 facilities at Tyndall

Air Force

FILE - An F-35 fighter jet arrives at the Vermont Air National Guard base in South Burlington, Vt., Sept. 19, 2019. The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, suspended talks on a $23 billion deal to purchase American-made F-35 planes, armed drones and other equipment, in a rare dispute between Washington and a key U.S. ally in the Persian Gulf. (AP Photo/Wilson Ring, File)

For fiscal 2023, the Pentagon’s troubled relationship with a troubled airplane flies on

Defense

(AP Photo/Carolyn Thompson)

The new USS Little Rock arrives at Buffalo harbor with a police and fireboat escort, Monday, Dec. 4, 2017, in Buffalo, N.Y. The littoral combat ship will be docked on the Lake Erie waterfront until its commissioning Dec. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Carolyn Thhompson)

Pentagon faces political battle to retire old weapons systems — and some newer ones

Defense

(AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

FILE - In this Tuesday, May 21, 2019 file photo, a F-35B aircraft lands at Akrotiri Royal air forces base near coastal city of Limassol, Cyprus. Britain's defense secretary said the country's most advanced military aircraft, the Lightning F-35B, that is undergoing training at a British air base in Cyprus has flown its first missions over Syria and Iraq as part of the ongoing operations against the Islamic State group, in a statement issued Tuesday June 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias, File)

GAO: F-35 sustainment costs may outweigh benefits of buying new ones

Federal Newscast

Amelia Brust/Federal News Network

defense contract-Section 809-purchasing-military

IG: Pentagon disregarded auditors, overpaid contractors by as much as $97M

DoD Reporter's Notebook

Don’t expect same defense spending priorities under a Biden administration

Defense

Comparing Biden and Trump on defense issues as election nears

Defense

House NDAA presses DoD to get serious about sustainment costs

DoD Reporter's Notebook

Director of GAO’s Defense Capabilities and Management

Pentagon finding F-35 fleet sustainment difficult as build-out less than quarter complete

Federal Drive

FILE - In this Aug. 11, 2019, file photo an iPhone displays the apps for Facebook and Messenger in New Orleans. Facebook says the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will be violating the company's rules if agents create fake profiles to monitor the social media of foreigners seeking to enter the country. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)

Senator warns Army about recruiting on TikTok

In today’s Federal Newscast, relocation notices went out to 159 employees at the Bureau of Land Management yesterday.

Federal Newscast

Pentagon announces agreement with Lockheed Martin for hi-tech planes

The Pentagon’s F-35 program office recently announced an agreement with Lockheed Martin for the next batch of nearly 500 of the hi-tech planes.

Federal Drive

Building planes like iPhones: How the Air Force can adapt to rapidly-changing technology

The Air Force may be looking to adapt a mid-20th century program to modern technologies in order to produce it’s sixth-gen fighter plane.