Brian Arnold, vice president of strategic systems for Raytheon, said Friday at AFA’s Los Angeles Space Symposium that during the current run of successful space launches, there also have been no failures of satellites on orbit. Arnold, a retired Air Force lieutenant general who had commanded Space and Missile Systems Center, noted that space acquisition has rightly been criticized for past failures to meet cost and schedule requirements, which result in so-called Nunn-McCurdy breaches. Once the systems are operational, however, he said that they perform magnificently and often for years more than their expected design lives.
Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, nominee to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Defense Department needs to upgrade its electronic warfare capability and its EW training ranges; just as his predecessor said at his own confirmation hearing.