V2X Inc’s Post

The B-21 Raider: A Game-Changer in Modern Warfare 🚀 The B-21 Raider, developed by Northrop Grumman for the U.S. Air Force, is poised to redefine strategic military aviation. Here's why this stealth bomber is a significant asset: 1. **Stealth Power**: Designed to elude sophisticated air defenses, the B-21 enhances the U.S.'s ability to operate in contested airspace. 2. **Global Reach & Payload**: With its long range, the B-21 can strike globally without refueling. Its substantial payload for both conventional and nuclear weapons amplifies the U.S.'s strike capabilities. 3. **Nuclear Deterrence**: As part of the nuclear triad, it bolsters nuclear deterrence, ensuring a credible response to threats. 4. **Versatility**: Adaptability is key; the B-21 is equipped for various missions, including precision strikes, surveillance, and electronic warfare. 5. **Advanced Technology**: Incorporating cutting-edge technology, it keeps the U.S. at the forefront of military aviation. 6. **Cost-Effective**: The B-21 balances advanced capabilities with cost-effectiveness, ensuring sustainable long-term operation. 7. **Supporting Defense Industry**: Its development fosters technological growth and sustains critical skills in the aerospace and defense sectors. The B-21 Raider represents a strategic leap in the U.S. Air Force's capabilities, enhancing global power projection, maintaining nuclear deterrence, and showcasing technological prowess in an economically feasible package. #B21Raider #MilitaryInnovation #Aerospace #Defense #StategicCapabilities

Northrop Grumman was awarded a $1.6B contract by NAVAIR for the procurement of nine additional E-2D aircraft to the production line. This award extends the production line into 2029 with four aircraft being delivered to the U.S. Navy and five aircraft being delivered to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. As the global airborne early warning gap continues to widen with the accelerated divestiture of the E-3 Sentry, Northrop Grumman is well-positioned to provide a highly configurable airborne solution. Continued incremental improvements that incorporate emerging technologies such as autonomy, crewed/uncrewed teaming, resource management, and space integration will ensure the E-2D’s dominance across the full range of potential battlespace environments well into the 2040s. #MDC2 #E2D #DefiningPossible

The U.S. Navy's shipyards were designed in the 1800s. 🤯 They need critical upgrades to maintain and update nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, submarines, and other ships. The Navy allocated $21 billion to the Shipyard Infrastructure Optimization Program (SIOP), but many national security experts believe that not enough effort and resources are being dedicated to digital transformation. 💻 Retired Admiral James Foggo proposes a "digital backbone" for shipyard modernization, including a dedication of an additional three percent to the overall SIOP budget to digital transformation objectives. With a combined top-down, bottom-up, and scalability approach to this challenge, the Navy can develop the smart shipyards required to achieve the objectives of SIOP. Read more here, and visit the IBM team at the 2024 Sea-Air-Space Exposition this week! https://ow.ly/Pm0350RaQV5 #DigitalTransformation #SeaAirSpaceExpo

Views from the #nuclearfleet ⚓️ The Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship USNS Wally Schirra (T-AKE 8) sails alongside the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) during a replenishment-at-sea. Theodore Roosevelt, flagship of Carrier Strike Group Nine, is underway conducting routine operations in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations, which is the U.S. Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with #alliesandpartners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region. #unmatchedpropulsion | #harnesstheatom | #challengewhatispossible

Inside the cockpit of the #a10 Thunderbolt II, a realm where grit meets skill, the pilot’s hand signal cuts through the silence—a silent command etched in the language of the skies. With a decisive maneuver, it banks hard, breaking from formation with the ferocity of a predator. This moment, a testament to the Thunderbolt’s raw power and unmatched agility, showcases the dance of combat air support, where every turn is a declaration of dominance. Here, the A-10 doesn’t just fly; it asserts its legacy as the guardian of ground forces, a behemoth in the air, carving its path with precision and might. 🎥: PATRIOT OPS Northrop Grumman

Lt Gen Tom Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff, Logistics, Engineering, and Force Protection, USAF, participated in the Installations and Operational Energy Panel at the AFA Warfare Symposium earlier this week.  #AFAColorado #ICYMI Lt Gen Miller discussed the A4’s responsibility in the context of base resilience and its role enabling the margin of victory in Great Power Competition.  - There are very few single mission Air Force bases and many more bases that have vital employed in place missions and multiple mission partners both flying and non-flying. This makes base resiliency for water, energy, and other infrastructure requirements critical to the many ways we project combat power. - Re-assess infrastructure with a strategic view assuring mission generation. Infrastructure is inextricably linked to aviation, for the ultimate purpose of enabling air and space power. - Industry can help us reduce our energy footprint to improve the flexibility to maneuver in the battlespace.

Here's another unique model from Squadron Nostalgia, an A-6 model of NWC China Lake with a detailed cockpit interior. ✨ NAWS China Lake was a significant testing and evaluation site for the A-6 Intruder. The base provided vast desert ranges and controlled airspace ideal for testing the aircraft's capabilities, weapons systems, and tactics. China Lake was instrumental in developing and testing various weapons systems used by the A-6 Intruder. These included guided bombs, precision-guided munitions, and other advanced ordnance designed to enhance the aircraft's effectiveness in combat. The A-6 Intruder was developed by Grumman Aerospace Corporation (later Northrop Grumman) for the United States Navy. It was designed to be an all-weather, carrier-based attack aircraft capable of accurately delivering various weapons. 🔻🔻🔻 Relive your initial flight, deployment, ship, submarine, or unit by commemorating it with an exquisite model, plaque, or patch! 💯 Visit our webpage at www.squadronnostalgia.com✅ #squadronnostalgia #a6 #intruder #details #cockpit #aviation #collectible #handmade #miniature #miniatureplanes #modelaircraft #navy #scalemodel #scalemodelairplanes

"17 July 1989: the first Northrop B-2A Spirit, 82-1066, took off from Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California, on its first flight. The crew was Northrop Chief Test Pilot Bruce J. Hinds and Colonel Richard Couch, United States Air Force. The top secret “stealth bomber” #prototype landed at Edwards Air Force Base 1 hour, 52 minutes later. After completing the flight test program, -1066 was placed in storage until 1993, awaiting upgrade to the Block 10 operational configuration. In 2000 it was again upgraded to the Block 30 standard. It is now named Spirit of America and assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. The Northrop Grumman B-2A Spirit is an advanced #technology long-range heavy bomber. It can perform both tactical or strategic missions. It features extremely low radar observabilty. The bomber features the “flying wing” concept, pioneered by the #Northrop XB-35 in 1946. In addition to its “stealthy” configuration, the B-2A is also highly aerodynamically efficient. The B-2A has a crew of two pilots. According to data released by the #USAirForce, the bomber is 69 feet (21 meters) long, with a wingspan of 172 feet (52.4 meters) and height of 17 feet (5.2 meters). Its empty weight is 160,000 pounds (72.5 tons), with a maximum takeoff weight of 336,500 pounds." (to be continued in the article...) Link to the original article: https://lnkd.in/eqetgSdt #aviation #aviationindustry #aeronautics #airforce #military #army #geopolitics #defense #defence #strategy #usa #history

Experts from the US Navy in #hypersonic weapons intend to collaborate with the industry by the end of the year to develop a new hypersonic munition that can be launched from carrier-based aircraft to target enemy surface ships and coastal installations. The program, known as the Hypersonic Air-Launched #Offensive Anti-Surface #Warfare (OASuW) (HALO), is currently in the #preliminary #development #phase by Lockheed Martin Corp. and Raytheon Technologies Corp. (RTX). HALO, designed for deployment on aircraft carriers, aims to complement or replace current carrier-based anti-ship missile systems. The operational deployment of HALO is scheduled for 2031, with an estimated initial operational capability by 2029. Eligible prime contractors, such as Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, will be allowed to participate in upcoming solicitations for HALO.

With Lockheed Out, Airbus Offering A330 MRTT To USAF Airbus will pursue the U.S. Air Force’s KC-135 recapitalization program on its own without prior partner Lockheed Martin, offering its A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) for the competition. Lockheed Martin announced Oct. 23 that it would not pursue the Air Force’s KC-135 replacement program following the release of a request for information (RFI) and requirements last month. Lockheed Martin and Airbus had teamed up on the LMXT, with Lockheed as the prime, first for the KC-Y bid and then for the KC-135 replacement. Read more at: https://lnkd.in/dDruxF_Y #AviationTalk #aviationnews #avgeek #aviation #aviationindustry