Boeing F/A-18

An ongoing software problem haunts Lockheed Martin’s production and modernization agenda for the F-35 as a raft of new competitors hit key milestones in 2024.

Most fighter aircraft made in the U.S. are in line to get improved radar warning receivers and self-protection jammers.

New-build deliveries of fighter aircraft are expected to eclipse 5,000 airframes globally, for a total value of nearly $460 billion USD. Lockheed Martin’s F-35 is expected to capture 34% of that total.

The 250-lb. Munition — also known as Small Diameter Bomb Increment II (SDB-II) — reached the early operational capability milestone with the Navy in October.

CVN 73 aims to shake off its reputation from prolonged maintenance and bring new capabilities to the Pacific.

The Advanced Electronic Warfare program seeks to replace the original L3Harris ALQ-214 self-defense jammer and the Raytheon ALR-67(V)3 radar warning receiver.

Combat aircraft procurement among the Gulf Cooperation Council states is in constant flux, given the geopolitics and threats faced in the region.

British Eurofighter Typhoons and Norwegian Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters have performed their first landings and takeoffs from road runways.

T-38, T-45 face decreasing mission capable rates, grounding due to aging powerplants.

The new acting head of the U.S. Marine Corps will elevate the head of safety role to a general officer by next summer amid a review of operations.

The U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps have agreed to work together on developing collaborative combat aircraft by standardizing multiple system components.

The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps have seen their rates of series aircraft incidents decrease but the cost for each mishap has risen significantly.

A U.S. Marine Corps pilot died when a Boeing F/A-18D crashed near Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California, late Aug. 24.

The capital investments by Boeing are supporting the company's "future franchise" programs, which possibly include the Next Generation Air Dominance program.

Next-generation fighters will be available when Australia searches for a replacement for a squadron of Boeing F/A-18E/Fs in the mid-2030s.

Raytheon has filed two pre-award protests against the Dual Band Decoy program since May 12 with the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

The announced selection by the Indian Navy of a French fighter is another blow to the future of Boeing’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet assembly line in St. Louis.

The new plan means the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II is no longer guaranteed to win a follow-on order.

Aerostructures and parts provider GKN Aerospace plans to close its manufacturing facility in the St. Louis area by the end of 2024.

Aerospace and defense metals specialist IBC Advanced Alloys warned on May 18 that it faced a debt payment crunch.

General Javier Salto Martínez-Avial, chief of the Spanish Air Force, says securing a further top-up order of Eurofighters is among his top priorities for 2023.

Strategy of denial also focuses on cyber, space and anti-access, aerial-denial weaponry.

Metrea’s business case rests on the uncomfortable fact that hundreds of Air Force-owned air refueling aircraft cover only a fraction of the potential demand.

Australia can buy up to 63 Northrop Grumman-built, long-range anti-radiation missiles worth up to $506 million, the U.S. government announced on Feb. 27.

Although Hornet production is forecast to end in 3-5 years, Boeing officials seem confident that a new generation of fighter production soon will begin.