The U.S. Air Force is carrying out a tactical aircraft study as it prepares its budget request for fiscal year 2023 and looks to whittle down the types of fighter jets it operates from seven to four platforms, Defense News reported Tuesday.

The four fighter platforms could include the F-35A Joint Strike Fighter; the sixth-generation Next Generation Air Dominance system or NGAD; F-15EX; and F-16 or its potential replacement.

According to the report, the Air Force plans to procure 1,763 F-35A jets throughout the program of record but the ongoing study could potentially reshape the service’s inventory of fighter jets as it works to determine the right mix of aircraft to counter advanced threats by 2030s and come up with a plan to reduce the number of legacy platforms.

Lt. Gen. Clinton Hinote, the deputy chief of staff for strategy, integration and requirements at the Air Force, said the service finalized the study’s initial draft, but Air Force Secretary and three-time Wash100 Award Frank Kendall has requested for additional analysis.

Some analysts have raised questions on whether the Air Force will maintain or cut the F-35 program of record.

Todd Harrison, an aerospace and defense budget expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said it is uncertain whether Congress would be in favor of reducing the overall buy.

“Earlier this year, we started hearing a lot more negative sentiment coming out of Congress about the F-35 program, and quite frankly the Air Force has seemed to soften on the program as well,” Harrison said. “But it may be too soon to call it. Negative talk does not necessarily translate into negative appropriations.”

Brett Ashworth, a spokesman for Lockheed, said the service should take a look at the “cost per effect” when it comes to assessing the F-35 jet’s value.

The Department of Energy's (DOE) Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will collaborate with two research universities in California to develop a testing platform for the quantum internet concept under a five-year, $12.5 million project to be funded by DOE. 

Berkeley Lab said its partnership with the University of California and the California Institute of Technology aims to produce a software-based distributed quantum computing network that will link the DOE facility and UC Berkeley.

The project, called Quantum Application Network Testbed for Novel Entanglement Technology, supports the federal government's National Quantum Initiative and is part of a $61 million DOE investment.

Other department funding awards include $12.5 million for a similar testbed development effort at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, $30 million for the establishment of five Nanoscale Science Research Centers and $5 million for the creation of continental-scale quantum internet building blocks.

Quantum networks use light’s quantum properties for encoding more information compared to traditional computing technology, according to Berkeley Lab.

A test team at Eglin Air Force Base demonstrated a new air-dropped, precision-guided weapon designed to strike enemy ships while reducing the survivability risks observed with existing methods.

An F-15E Strike Eagle dropped the GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) over the Gulf of Mexico during the test on Aug. 26th, Eglin AFB said Monday.

Maj. Andrew Swanson, F-15E weapons system officer at the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron, said the new munition can address the survivability risks associated with the existing 2,000-pound, laser-guided GBU-24.

The new GBU-31 JDAM can also serve as an alternative to submarine-launched torpedoes and eliminates the risk of revealing a submarine's location during launches.

The test follows a previous demonstration conducted by the 49th Test and Evaluation Squadron, which evaluated JDAM's performance in specific maritime conditions. JDAM features a modern tail kit designed to provide precision guidance.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected eight teams to conduct research projects that address the limits of atomic vapors in quantum science.

DARPA said Friday that its Science of Atomic Vapors for New Technologies (SaVANT) effort will study how to improve the coherence of warm atomic vapors and determine how they can support DOD's technological pursuits.

Unlike cold atoms, warm atomic vapors do not require laser-cooling but present the challenge of maintaining quantum coherence. 

SaVANT will address this limitation and apply room-temperature atomic vapors to support quantum information science applications, as well as help DOD measure high-sensitivity electric and magnetic fields.

The effort will mainly focus on three approaches: Rydberg electrometry, vector magnetometry and vapor quantum electrodynamics.

The eight SaVANT participants are:

• ColdQuanta
• Georgia Institute of Technology
• Quantum Valley Ideas Laboratories
• Rydberg Technologies
• Twinleaf
• University of Colorado
• University of Maryland
• William & Mary

DARPA will announce an additional participant in the coming months.

The U.S. Air Force and its Indian equivalent have signed a partnership to jointly develop air-launched unmanned aerial vehicles.

The partnership supports the U.S.- India Defense Technology and Trade Initiative, which aims to promote cooperative research, technology exchanges and co-development between the two countries.

The initiative seeks to modernize the militaries of both countries through collaborative pursuits, which will include projects on avionics systems, launch technologies, propulsion, payload power and small UAVs. The two countries share a common goal of promoting freedom in the Indo-Pacific region, Seybolt noted.

“This co-development agreement further operationalizes India’s status as a major defense partner and builds upon our existing strong defense cooperation," said Kelli Seybolt, deputy undersecretary of the Air Force for international affairs.

Brig. Gen. Brian Bruckbauer, who leads the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center's Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation directorate, signed the agreement in behalf of the U.S., opposite Air Vice Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari who represented India.