This is Boeing's "Phantom Eye," a hydrogen-powered, unmanned spy plane that flies 65,000 feet above the ground and can fly for four days straight. Boeing hails it as the "first of its kind" — its looks alone set it apart for that honor.

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Will the military need to be called in to blow up the rogue Intelsat satellite meandering through Earth's orbit?  Or maybe a NASA Space Shuttle could swing by and grab it?

You may recall that in 2008, rather than risk the chance of a large piece of a failing spy satellite would fall on populated areas the government blasted it out of the sky.  The physics of such a shot were complicated and the Navy had a less than 10 second window to hit the satellite as it passed overhead of its ships in the Pacific Ocean. But it worked.

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Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is calling the Pentagon out on spending.

"For example, should we really be up in arms over a temporary projected shortfall of about 100 Navy and Marine strike fighters relative to the number of carrier wings, when America's military possesses more than 3,200 tactical combat aircraft of all kinds?" Gates asked. "Does the number of warships we have and are building really put America at risk when the U.S. battle fleet is larger than the next 13 navies combined, 11 of which belong to allies and partners? Is it a dire threat that by 2020 the United States will have only 20 times more advanced stealth fighters than China?"

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I love the technology created by the Pentagon.  But nothing puts the context of defense spending into perspective more than a conversation I had while touring naval  construction facility nearly 20 years ago.  The facility built nuclear attack submarines and aircraft carriers, one of which had just been launched and being dedicated.  A tour guide was taking a group of us through and showing us the preparations to build the next carrier scheduled and the parts for several more.   I asked how many more they planned on building...and there was no definitive answer.  

At some point enough is enough.  Defense contractors will always tell us the answer is more.  And there is real need to maintain the workforce to make these amazing vehicles.  But somebody has to say enough is enough.

For the aircraft industry maybe it's time for the government to fund prototype development of next generation aircraft rather than being locked into full production of unneeded aircraft.  Maybe the future is unmanned drones.  But some other model  is needed.  The current paradigm is too expensive and takes too long to produce new models. 

Investigators were able to track wannabe terrorist Faisal Shahzad through his anonymous, pre-paid cell phone — exactly how, they won’t say. But there was a tantalizing explanation posted — and then quickly yanked — from the website of WCBS TV. “In the end, it was secret Army intelligence planes that did him in. Armed with his cell phone number, they circled the skies over the New York area, intercepting a call to Emirates Airlines reservations, before scrambling to catch him at John F. Kennedy International Airport.”

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Congress delved Wednesday into the politically explosive issue of unmanned drone attacks, questioning the legality of operations increasingly used to combat al Qaeda and Taliban militants in countries such as Pakistan.

In the eight years of George W. Bush's presidency, unmanned aircraft - or drones - attacked militant targets 45 times.

Since President Barack Obama took office, the numbers have risen sharply: 51 last year and 29 so far this year.

Most attacks have targeted suspected militant hideouts in Pakistan. While the United States is the only country in the region known to have the ability to launch missiles from drones - which are controlled remotely - U.S. officials normally do not comment on suspected drone strikes.

It’s the new secret weapon fueling the US military. A hardy plant capable of growing in poor soil, camelina sativa produces a bio-fuel that’s now the focus of the US Navy’s drive for alternative fuels in its planes.

Last week an F/A-18 Super Hornet flew from the Naval Air Station at Patuxent River, Md., powered by a 50/50 mix of aviation fuel and camelina, also known as wild flax. It was the first supersonic fighter to fly on a bio-fuel mix. The event was celebrated by US Navy Secretary Ray Mabus on the Navy’s new official blog, also launched last week.

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The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) says it currently possesses a new generation of F-14 fighter aircraft with domestically-built radars and refurbished engines.

The Iranian fleet of Grumman F-14 Tomcat aircraft was purchased from the United States during the reign of the deposed Shah of Iran.

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Ethan McCord had just returned from dropping his children at school earlier this month, when he turned on the TV news to see grainy black-and-white video footage of a soldier running from a bombed-out van with a child in his arms. It was a scene that had played repeatedly in his mind the last three years, and he knew exactly who the soldier was.

In May 2007, McCord, a 33-year-old Army specialist, was engaged in a firefight with insurgents in an Iraqi suburb when his platoon, part of Bravo Company, 2-16 Infantry, got orders to investigate a nearby street. When they arrived, they found a scene of fresh carnage – the scattered remains of a group of men, believed to be armed, who had just been gunned down by Apache attack helicopters. They also found 10-year-old Sajad Mutashar and his five-year-old sister Doaha covered in blood in a van. Their 43-year-old father, Saleh, had been driving them to a class when he spotted one of the wounded men moving in the street and drove over to help him, only to become a victim of the Apache guns.

PAK-FA T-50 Presentation includes detailed information and comparison to US aircraft

DeconstructingSukhoi-PAK-FA-Su-50.pdf (4.54 mb)

A CV-22 Osprey — the special operations version of the controversial MV-22 Osprey tiltrotor — crashed last night in southern Afghanistan. According to an International Security Assistance Force news release, the incident claimed the lives of three U.S. servicemembers and one civilian employee. Several other military personnel were injured.

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