Defense One reports, “The Marine Corps plans to double its buy of the carrier-borne F-35C variant and scale back its buy of the short-takeoff-vertical-landing F-35B, according to a new aviation plan from the service. The service’s total F-35 buy of 420 aircraft remains unchanged, but the service will now buy 280 F-35Bs instead of the planned 353 jets, and 140 F-35Cs instead of the planned 67 jets, according to the 2025 Marine Aviation Plan released Monday. This means the Marines will field 12 F-35B squadrons and eight F-35C squadrons. Notably, the plan also expands the size of F-35 squadrons from 10 to 12 fighters.”
Full Story (Defense One)
Tag: Plan
Chinese Military Analyst Releases Plan to Hack Starlink
Bloomberg reports that in a paper “published this spring by the Beijing Institute of Tracking and Telecommunications Technology, a researcher urges the Chinese military to track and monitor every satellite in the sprawling Starlink network.” The paper, published in the Modern Defense Technology journal, reads Starlink “can provide more stable and reliable communication capabilities for the combat units deployed by the US military around the world. On the other hand, it also has the potential to provide high-definition pictures and even live video.” Therefore, Beijing should consider “a combination of soft and hard kill methods” in order to “make some Starlink satellites lose their functions and destroy the constellation’s operating system.” Space Law and Policy Solutions founder Michael Listner said, “This is a national security issue for the Chinese, they’re looking at Taiwan, if something happens, this system could be important for the Defense Department. Starlink offers the US military resiliency. You can hit our systems but we have backup capabilities.”
Full Story (Bloomberg)
B-21 Flight Test Pace Speeds Up as USAF, Northrop Plan to Increase Production
Aviation Week reports, “The second B-21 flight test aircraft has already flown a second time since its delivery sortie from Northrop Grumman to the U.S. Air Force, as the company says the bombers are increasing their pace of tests that have validated their predictions. The company and the service are finalizing plans on how to use congressionally added funds to increase production capacity for the bomber, says Tom Jones, corporate vice president and president of Aeronautics Systems at Northrop Grumman.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
“Athena” Plan Lays Out New Blueprint for Remaking NASA
Ars Technica reports, “In recent weeks, copies of an intriguing policy document have started to spread among space lobbyists on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The document bears the title ‘Athena,’ and it purports to summarize the actions that private astronaut Jared Isaacman would have taken, were his nomination to become NASA administrator confirmed. The 62-page plan is notable both for the ideas to remake NASA that it espouses as well as the manner in which it has been leaked to the space community.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)