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William LaPlante Jr.

A B-52H Stratofortress assigned to the 419th Flight Test Squadron is undergoes pre-flight procedures at Edwards Air Force Base, California, Aug. 8, 2020. The aircraft conducted a captive-carry flight test of the AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon Instrumented Measurement Vehicle 2 at the Point Mugu Sea Range off the Southern California coast. (Air Force photo by Giancarlo Casem)

LaPlante hints at plan to continue Air Force’s boost-glide hypersonic missile efforts

“Let’s just say that there is a plan. It’s not something we can talk about in this open session," Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment William…
An AeroVironment RQ-11 Raven unmanned aerial system (UAS) team assigned to the 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, conduct training at Jaworze, Poland on November 22, 2023. Ravens UAS are used to provide day or night aerial intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance missions to support Operation European Assure Deter and Reinforce. (Photo by U.S. Army Maj. Arturo Rodriguez)

Trio of DOD leaders poised to visit kamikaze drone-maker’s California plant

The meeting comes as the U.S. military experiments with AeroVironment’s capabilities — and considers supplying some to Israel.
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U.S. Air Force Airmen board a C-130J Super Hercules from the 36th Airlift Squadron assigned to Yokota Air Base, Japan in support of Northern Edge 23-2 at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, July 7, 2023. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Airman 1st Class Alexandria Byrd)

Northern Edge exercise becomes test field for prototypes from DOD’s Rapid Defense Experimentation Reserve  

Technologies associated with RDER are deploying as part of the joint training exercise series.
Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Englehardt, the noncommissioned officer-in-charge of the operations section for the 142nd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, which is deployed to support 1st Theater Sustainment Command, gauges wind speed near the Camp Buehring, Kuwait, drop zone for the April 22, 2021 air drop of four bundles using the Joint Precision Air Delivery System, JPADS. Englehardt said JPADS uses the Modular Autonomous Guidance Unit, or MAGU, to manipulate the the parafoil’s rigging to steer it using GPS to reach its programmed coordinates. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Neil W. McCabe)

Pentagon alters oversight of PNT enterprise in new guidance

Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks signed off on an update to how the Pentagon oversees its positioning, navigation and timing enterprise.
Wallops Island, Virginia, Oct. 21, 2021. U.S. Navy Strategic Systems Programs and the Army Hypersonic Program Office successfully conducted a High Operational Tempo for Hypersonics flight campaign. This test informed the development of the Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike and the Army’s Long Range Hypersonic Weapon offensive hypersonic strike capability. (U.S. Navy Photo/Released)

Price tag for Navy’s CPS hypersonic weapon is ‘higher than we want it to be,’ Pentagon acquisition chief says

The Navy intends to spend upwards of $50 million per round, on average, for its Conventional Prompt Strike hypersonic weapon over the next five years.
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