Unmanned technologies could offer the West an opening to catch up with Russia, bogged down in Ukraine, in establishing a foothold in the warming Arctic, according to issue experts. The sea ice covering the Arctic ocean is melting at an alarming rate of 13 percent per decade due to climate change, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This has created for Arctic states, as well as non-Arctic countries a renewed land of opportunity to assert military and commercial control over this recently accessible territory as greater natural resource extraction and new shipping lanes have emerged.
Russia and Belarus began joint air force exercises on Jan. 16, amid concern Minsk may start participating in the conflict in Ukraine directly, as Kyiv's intelligence said Russia is planning a renewed war push in 2023. The two countries are conducting joint air force drills from Jan. 16 to Feb. 1, the Belarusian defense ministry said. There are growing fears Russian President Vladimir Putin could lobby his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, to join the conflict.
In moments of crisis, small details can make a big difference. That proved true during Operation Allies Refuge, the massive United States military effort to evacuate more than 124,000 people from Afghanistan during the last weeks of the U.S. war there in August 2021. Surprisingly, one of those small details was not an advanced drone or powerful weapon. Instead, it was a Google Doc that became essential not just for Airmen on the ground, but also leaders in the White House, the Pentagon, and other high-level offices around the world.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy lifted off Jan. 15 at 5:56 p.m. Eastern from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., carrying the U.S. Space Force USSF-67 mission to geostationary Earth orbit. USSF-67 was the Space Force’s first national security mission of 2023 and marked Falcon Heavy’s fifth flight since its 2018 debut, as well as its second national security space launch following the Nov. 1 launch of USSF-44.
“When the B-21 Raider rolled out of the shadows and into public view for the first time last month, the strategic bomber instantly transmitted a tangible and unambiguous message. The batwing, stealth aircraft is a striking validation of our efforts to do whatever is necessary to protect the United States and its interests. It provides visual proof that our nation’s technical prowess remains unrivaled and that we can accelerate change and mindfully prepare to deter, meet, and blunt threats now and in the future,” writes Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr.
A panelist at an event held by the U.S. think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on Jan. 10 said that the U.S. should arm Taiwan with enough missiles to destroy Shanghai if China attacks. At the start of the event, CSIS members presented their findings via live streaming in a report derived from wargames. In his opening statements following the presentations, retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula argued that the time has come for the U.S. to “get creative” about means to deter Beijing from launching an assault on Taiwan.
With both the air and space domains becoming more crowded than ever, French military planners are preparing a deep dive into whether they can take advantage of a largely ignored region known as “higher airspace”—the unregulated area above where conventional air traffic operates. This space, loosely set at between 20-100 kilometers above sea level, is too high for aircraft to operate in, too low for satellites to orbit in. But increasingly, new technology with balloons, solar-powered “wings,” and drones are starting to make timid incursions in this region.
The U.S. military and Hawaii officials said Jan. 13 the Air Force has returned 363 acres (147 hectares) it leased on Molokai Island to the Department of Hawaiian Homelands, opening the possibility Native Hawaiians could move onto the land. The department administers lands under a century-old U.S. law that allows Native Hawaiians with at least 50 percent Hawaiian blood quantum to apply for a 99-year lease for $1 a year.
The Department of the Air Force has appointed Eileen Vidrine as its chief data and artificial intelligence officer. Vidrine, who served previously as Air Force’s chief data officer, takes over as CDAO as Maj. Gen. John Olson, who held the role for the past year since its creation, departs. “Please join us in welcoming back Ms. Eileen Vidrine, as she returns to assume the position as the Department of the Air Force Chief Data and Artificial Intelligence Officer,” the Air Force’s Chief Data and AI Office announced on social media.
This year, the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force celebrates 100 years as the world’s oldest and largest military aviation museum. The community has a year full of events to expect as the museum marks its centennial of educating visitors about America’s military aviation force. The museum traces its origin to a small engine study lab at McCook Field just north of downtown Dayton to what it is today—more than 19 indoor acres housing more than 350 aerospace vehicles and missiles, and thousands of artifacts at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the heart of Air Force acquisition and research efforts.