The Drive
U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers flying from Dyess Air Force Base in Texas kept watch for signs of illegal fishing during recent sorties over the eastern end of the Pacific off the coast of Ecuador and around that country's Galapagos Islands. This would seem to be an unusual mission for the B-1B, which is a highly capable long-range strike platform, but it is actually not the first time the bombers have supported international law enforcement activities as a way to practice skill sets in a real-world environment.
Defense News
The Department of Defense has signed a memorandum of agreement to begin shifting responsibilities for managing space traffic to the Department of Commerce. The document formalizes the partnership between both agencies on the space monitoring mission, according to a press release.
Collins Aerospace
The need to enable Joint All Domain Operations (JADO) to keep ahead of the adversary threat has been well-documented and studied, as has the Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) infrastructure needed to enable JADO. There are two major challenges to realizing the JADC2 vision. The first is finding ways to utilize existing assets in future solutions, and second is determining how best to apply the commercial cloud to military environments. Collins Aerospace is focused on addressing both challenges at the tactical edge.
Defense One
Conservative groups are lobbying members of Congress to vote against the White House’s request for additional money for Ukraine, arguing that the administration is asking for a blank check with no long-term plan to end the war. The White House announced that it would request an additional $13.7 billion to help Ukraine between October and December, including $11.7 billion for security and economic assistance and $2 billion to reduce energy costs that have increased during the war. Congress has already approved two supplemental funding packages, for $13.6 billion in March and $40 billion in May.
Breaking Defense
With Congress deep in discussions about whether to create a National Guard arm of the Space Force, both supporters and detractors of the idea are throwing their hats in the ring. For Tim Ryan and Stuart Pettis, both of the Air & Space Forces Association, the answer is simple: Congress shouldn’t overthink it.
Defense News
Ligado Networks’ plan to establish a terrestrial 5G network could jeopardize some older U.S. Defense Department satellites, according to a congressionally mandated report. The company is preparing to start operationalizing its system as soon as next month. The report, released by the National Academies of Sciences with Pentagon sponsorship, noted that satellite services provided to the department by Iridium Communications “will experience harmful interference” when their terminals are within 2,401 feet of Ligado’s terminals.
Breaking Defense
As defense companies grapple with soaring inflation, the Pentagon is working on new guidance that would give contracting officers more flexibility to make adjustments, especially on firm, fixed-price contracts with suppliers, the Defense Department’s top acquisition official said. The Pentagon hopes to update guidance for contracting officers within “the next week” after the new language is vetted by senior acquisition officials.
Federal News Network
If artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic process automation (RPA) were air wings, they’d be flying high. For the Air Force, no less than the other armed forces, the question is not whether to adopt these technologies. It’s where to adopt them first so they yield the greatest return. “We are in a lot of different businesses,” said Jay Bonci, the Air Force’s chief technology officer. Those include traditional airpower missions, space operations, weather modeling and prediction, human performance and health planning, and financial management.
One More Thing
Military.com
One could argue that the F-16 Fighting Falcon plane doesn't need any special paint job to be the coolest thing in the air. After all, the Viper, as pilots call it, is the world's most popular fighter by number of planes in service around the world, and it’s the ride of choice for the elite Air Force Thunderbirds. But when you see one sparkle in flawless all-gold, it somehow still hits differently.
