Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, director of the Missile Defense Agency, has said the F-35 fighter aircraft could detect, monitor and target ballistic missiles by 2025, Breaking Defense reported Wednesday.

“I’d say six to seven years to essentially work out the concept of operations (and) develop the capabilities — (whether) it’s sensor-based or a new fast missile that’s hung on the bottom of an F-35 for the [Ballistic Missile Defense System) mission — integrate those capabilities, test them and deliver them into a theater of operations,” Greaves told the Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense subpanel.

“Our job is to look outside of the classic missile defense system and look for sensors and shooters that would be able to contribute when integrated into the BMDS, and we see F-35 as one,” he noted.

Greaves, a 2018 Wash100 recipient, said MDA has been working with the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy on how they will integrate the Lockheed Martin-built fighter jet into missile defense.

He also cited the role of regional combatant commanders in efforts to determine potential F-35 applications in missions.

The Government Accountability Office has recommended that the Defense Department reassess fighter pilot squadron requirements across military services to mirror existing and emerging conditions such as the rise in workload and use of unmanned aircraft systems.

GAO said in a report publicly released Wednesday officials at the Air Force, Navy and the Marine Corps noted that they have not reviewed or updated squadron requirements in the last two years.

Squadron leaders said fighter pilot workload has climbed in recent years due to a decline in administrative support and changes in fighter jet technology and tactics.

The congressional watchdog analyzed gaps between the actual fighter pilot staffing levels and authorizations from fiscal year 2006 to FY 2017 across the three services and found that the Air Force showed the widest gap at 27 percent in FY 2017, followed by the Navy at 26 percent and Marine Corps at 24 percent.

Service officials said the gaps could be associated with reduced training opportunities, rising attrition rate driven by career dissatisfaction and aircraft readiness challenges, according to the report.

U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, director at the Missile Defense Agency, has said at a congressional hearing that modernizing sensors can help MDA counter emerging missile threats, C4ISRNET reported Wednesday.

“The hypersonic threat is real and it’s coming,” he told members of the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee Wednesday.

“Plus with the more complex countermeasures that these threats will produce to confuse our defensive systems, the ability to maintain a custody becomes even more important.”

Greaves, a 2018 Wash100 recipient, noted that MDA is requesting $120.4 million in fiscal 2019 funds to develop a kill chain technology, analyze target of opportunity events, implement space sensor technology and update multidomain command-and-control systems as part of the agency’s hypersonic defense effort.

Rear Adm. Kevin Jones, a member of the U.S. Navy Supply Corps and head of the Office of Special Projects in Washington, D.C., has been named the next commander of the Defense Logistics Agency Distribution.

The Secretary of the Navy and Chief of Naval Operations announced Jones’ new assignment that will be formalized at the DLA Distribution change of command slated on June 11, the agency said Tuesday.

Jones served as the commanding officer for the Naval Supply Systems Command at the Fleet Logistics Center Sigonella and for the Naval Special Warfare Group 1 of the Logistics Support Unit.

His naval deployment includes service on the USS Jarrett (FFG-33) as head of the Supply Officer Department and on the USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) as an officer for the material and aviation support divisions.

His assignments at NAVSUP also included roles as assistant commander for the Supply Operations and Logistics Policy (N3/N4) and as chief of staff at the command’s headquarters in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

He served the head of the Naval Special Warfare Command as assistant chief of staff for logistics, engineering, maintenance and combat systems (N4) and supported the F/A-18 Super Hornet program as a contracting officer at the Naval Air Systems Command.

Jones’ on shore duty included assignments to the J4 Directorate as a joint logistics planner at the Headquarters U.S. Central Command and to the G4 Directorate as director of logistics on the staff of Commander Marine Corps Bases Western Area.

He was also stationed in Kuwait as an attachment to the U.S. Embassy and served as an adviser to the chief of logistics of the Kuwait Air Force.

Jones holds qualifications for aviation, surface and expeditionary supply warfare through his membership with the Acquisition Professional Community.

Adm. Philip Davidson, head of the U.S. Fleet Forces Command, has been nominated for assignment as commander of the U.S. Pacific Command and for reappointment to the rank of admiral.

President Donald Trump’s nomination of Davidson was announced by Defense Secretary James Mattis in a Defense Department press release issued Tuesday.

Davidson assumed his current role for the U.S. Northern Command’s Naval Forces on Dec. 19, 2014 after his concurrent service as the commander of the U.S. 6th Fleet and NATO’s Naval Striking and Support Forces and as the deputy commander of the regional U.S. Naval Forces in Europe and Africa.

His command experience includes assignments to the Carrier Strike Group 8/Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, the USS Gettysburg (CG 64) and the USS Taylor (FFG 50).

His service on land includes roles as director of maritime operations for the U.S. Fleet Forces Command, as the senior military adviser to the State Department‘s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan and as deputy director for strategy and policy for the Joint Staff/J-5.

Earlier in his career, Davidson served on multiple staff tours of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Navy and the Joint Staff under the policy, strategy and operations billets and was the service branch’s military aide to the vice president.

Davidson’s naval career includes global deployment onboard aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers and frigates.

Capt. Jeff Dodge, manager of the U.S. Navy‘s Fire Scout program, has said the Northrop Grumman-built MQ-8C unmanned helicopter is scheduled to reach initial operational capability status by the end of the year.

Dodge added the development of MQ-8C, which is slated to undergo initial operational test and evaluation this month, builds on the MQ-8B deployment history, the Navy reported Tuesday.

The service branch also seeks to demonstrate the new helicopter’s capacity to integrate with the Link 16 data network and deliver target data to airborne weapons in real time.

Capt. Dan Mackin, manager of the Navy’s Triton program, said the branch will deploy its unmanned MQ-4C unmanned aircraft system to Guam later this year as part of an early operational capability effort.

MQ-4C, also built by Northrop, will continuously operate from five orbits to support intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.

The Navy has conducted Triton operational test flights at Naval Air Station in Patuxent River, Maryland, over the past two months and said it plans to transfer test activities to NAS Point Mogu in California soon.