Two Congressmen and a former Central Intelligence Agency director have teamed up to form the Congressional Defense Energy Working Group to “identify challenges” and “recommend logistical and policy solutions” to the US military’s dependence on energy, which they view as a national security vulnerability. Speaking at the unveiling of the bipartisan initiative last week alongside former CIA director James Woolsey and Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) pointed out that nearly half of DOD’s energy spending is for jet fuel for the Air Force, and that for every $10 per barrel increase in oil prices adds $600 million to the Air Force’s annual operating costs. Woolsey, who also serves on the Defense Science Board, asserted, “The way we employ energy in military operations and in our daily lives and the link to national security is the most important issue our country faces.” The DSB recently completed a study of DOD energy policy, and Air Force Materiel Command has embarked on testing new experimental fuels on the B-52 bomber.
The Space Force awarded three contracts for rocket launches worth up to a combined $13.68 billion on April 4—and the usual players SpaceX and United Launch Alliance have got some competition in the form of newcomer Blue Origin.