Brian Everstine is the Pentagon Editor for Aviation Week, based in Washington, D.C. Before joining Aviation Week in August 2021, Brian covered the Pentagon for Air Force Magazine. Brian began covering defense aviation in 2011 as a reporter for Military Times. Over a decade as a defense journalist, he has reported from dozens of bases at home and abroad, including austere airstrips in Afghanistan, the cockpit of a B-52 over the South Pacific and the boom operator station of a KC-46. Before the military beat, Brian covered the Washington state legislature for the Associated Press.
The U.S. Air Force is moving forward on determining the requirements and acquisition strategy for its possible KC-Y “bridge tanker,” as the service’s top leader says a competition is looking less likely.
U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told lawmakers May 13 that current U.S. hypersonic weapon systems lack the capability to engage moving targets, which would be critical if the weapons were to be effective in Air Force operations.
The war in Ukraine is revealing the vulnerability of attack helicopters to man-portable air-defense systems. Defense analyst Sash Tusa joins Aviation Week editors to discuss options that the U.S. Army will consider at its EDGE 22 exercise, how manufacturers could protect future rotorcraft and whether those ideas make sense.
