The Air Force's rush to get critical combat aircraft into the hands of Afghan forces could end up endangering both American trainers and Afghan pilots. 

Aircraft-maker Hawker Beechcraft filed for bankruptcy protection Thursday, after reaching an agreement with its lenders that will eliminate $2.5 billion in debt.

The Wichita, Kan.-based aircraft manufacturer filed for Chapter 11 in New York as part of a restructuring deal to transfer ownership of the company to its creditors.

Climate change has had a direct effect on national security, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said this week.

A Wisconsin lawmaker whose district includes the shipyard where one of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) variants is produced is taking issue with charges in Congress that the Navy has shown a “lack of transparency” over problems with the LCS.

Rep. Reid Ribble (R-Wis.) sent a letter to House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) on Thursday asking him to strip an amendment from the defense authorization bill that would require a “comprehensive briefing” to Congress on the LCS program.

The LCS program has come under renewed scrutiny over problems with the USS Freedom, the first Lockheed Martin variant of the ship, which was produced in Marinette Marine shipyard, in Ribble’s district.

A pair of F-22 pilots are going on “60 Minutes” Sunday to speak out about why they won't fly the fighter plane.

The two pilots say they are not the only ones who have chosen not to fly the F-22 Raptor, which was grounded after incidents where pilots suffered from oxygen deprivation.

The Air Force has resumed flying the planes, despite not being able to find a “root cause” after an investigation into the oxygen-deprivation issue, known as hypoxia.

A U.S-led airstrike against an al Qaeda-run training camp in southern Yemen Wednesday ended in the deaths of 15 militants and marked the beginning of a tougher U.S. counterterrorism campaign against the group's terror cells in the region. 

After Britain’s national police agency website was hacked Wednesday, the British Ministry of Defense admitted Thursday that it’s top secret systems have also been breached, the Guardian reported.

The website of Britain’s Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA), described as Britain’s FBI, was attacked by hackers on Wednesday, according to reports, prompting the agency to shut the site down.

Australia's decision to push back planned purchases of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is only the latest crack in the increasingly fragile JSF international coalition. 

Read more...

Karzai’s remarks highlight the combative streak he’s had toward Washington.