space force space flag exercise

STARCOM Hosts Largest Ever Space Flag Exercise, Focusing on Europe

Space Training and Readiness Command hosted its largest ever Space Flag exercise at Schriever Space Force Base, Colo., from Dec. 5 to 16, with 165 participants exercising potential strategies for a European conflict. Every Delta from Space Operations Command had a representative at Space Flag 23-1, which also drew participants from the Space Force Element of the National Reconnaissance Office, the U.S. Air Force, and partner nations Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. 

L3Harris to Buy Aerojet Rocketdyne for $4.7 Billion

L3Harris announced plans Dec. 18 to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne, the only U.S. maker of certain propulsion components for several key American military and space assets for $4.7 billion. The deal, which requires final approval from the Federal Trade Commission, would secure L3Harris as one of the Department of Defense’s prime contractors.
air force explosive ordnance disposal

Air Force Gets New Robots for Explosive Ordnance Disposal

The Air Force has received its first new large-size explosive ordnance disposal robots, the latest in a series of upgrades to the service’s EOD equipment. Four of the new T7 robotic systems were formally handed over to the Air Force, contractor L3Harris stated in a Dec. 15 release, a few months after the 96th Test Wing’s explosive ordnance disposal flight began training on the system. 

Radar Sweep

US-China Milspace Competition Reaching Critical Stage

SpaceNews

China’s ambitions to surpass the United States as the world’s space superpower have been known for decades and highlighted by the Pentagon in annual reports mandated by Congress. Alarm bells are ringing louder in the Pentagon’s latest report released Nov. 29, which more explicitly warns that China’s advances in civil and military space are rapidly transitioning into warfighting systems capable of competing with those of the United States.

Airman Who Rocketed Out of F-35B After Botched Runway Landing Released from Hospital

Military.com

The pilot who ejected from an F-35B Lightning II on the runway during a botched landing in Texas last week has been released from the hospital and suffered only minor injuries, according to the military. Matthew Montgomery, a spokesman for the Defense Contract Management Agency, told Military.com that the pilot, who is an Airman, was “performing quality checks” on behalf of DCMA when the accident occurred.

Drones, Sats, and Rockets: As Sweden Looks to Boost Spending, It’s Taking Lessons from Ukraine

Breaking Defense

Drones, space-based surveillance capabilities, and munitions could get increased attention from Sweden as the Nordic nation attempts to boost spending for modernization in the coming years, according to its new defense minister. Since coming into power this fall, Sweden’s new government has laid out three defense priorities. The first is joining NATO, and the second is increasing military support for Ukraine “including the transfer of more advanced military weapons systems,” Pål Jonson, who became Sweden’s top defense official in October, told Breaking Defense.

OPINION: Washington Is Waking Up on Weapons for Taiwan

Defense News

“The U.S. Senate voted 83-11 to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2023 after the U.S. House of Representatives advanced the same legislation in a resounding 350-80 vote. The annual defense bill, which now heads to President Joe Biden for his signature, includes landmark legislation related to Taiwan that can begin to close the gap between words and actions in Washington and play a decisive role in deterring Chinese aggression and avoiding great power war,” writes retired Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at FDD.

Pentagon Isn’t Tracking Whether Privatized Housing Is Sickening Families, Watchdog Finds

Military.com

The Pentagon lacks the information it needs to track whether poor privatized housing conditions affect the health of troops and military families, despite evidence that some have gotten sick as a result of the living conditions, according to a department inspector general investigation. The inspector general was unable to draw a link between housing conditions and any reported illnesses, because the Army and Air Force haven't put data on many of their homes into the Pentagon's housing records system, which also has no mechanism to track environmental health in the housing.

Pentagon Changes ‘UAP’ Terminology As It Looks to Investigate Unexplainable Sightings Across All Domains

DefenseScoop

The Department of Defense is expanding the scope of its “UAP” investigations to encompass undersea objects and those that transition between mediums. When Pentagon officials use the acronym “UAP,” they now mean “unidentified anomalous phenomena”—or military-reported, unexplainable sightings. “You may have caught that I just said ‘unidentified anomalous phenomena’—whereas in the past the department has used the term ‘unidentified aerial phenomena,’” undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security Ronald Moultrie said during a briefing with reporters.

Turkey’s Future Unmanned Fighter Jet Conducts First Flight

Defense News

Turkish drone manufacturer Baykar Tech on Dec. 14 conducted the first flight test of its next-generation unmanned fighter jet, known as the Bayraktar Kizilelma. The drone is expected to be the air force backbone of the Turkish Navy’s future flagship, LHD Anadolu.

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Military Spending Surges, Creating New Boom for Arms Makers

The New York Times

The prospect of growing military threats from both China and Russia is driving bipartisan support for a surge in Pentagon spending, setting up another potential boom for weapons makers that is likely to extend beyond the war in Ukraine. Congress is on track in the coming week to give final approval to a national military budget for the current fiscal year that is expected to reach approximately $858 billion—or $45 billion above what President Biden had requested.

One More Thing

Christopher Nolan’s Film ‘Oppenheimer’ Recreated the First Nuclear Explosion without CGI

Task & Purpose

Christopher Nolan is not in possession of a nuclear bomb. However, the filmmaker caught peoples’ attention this past week when he revealed that his upcoming film Oppenheimer, a biopic of the man known as “the father of the atomic bomb,” features a recreation of the U.S. Army’s Trinity test at Los Alamos, N.M., on July 16, 1945—a recreation that doesn’t use CGI.