The Department of the Air Force has instituted a number of new oversight tools to ensure against delays and cost overruns in space programs—one of which is the as-yet unused Contractor Responsibility Watch List (CRWL) to put underperforming contractors in the penalty box, according to space acquisition czar Frank Calvelli. “It’s basically … Santa’s ‘naughty list,’ he told the Potomac Officers Club on April 27.
“Air superiority involves protecting friendly forces from aerial attack, while concurrently empowering offensive power projection by suppressing enemy defenses. The former is key to not losing a war. The latter is what brings victory. Joint combat power is not viable without control of the sky. Investment in a capable, sufficiently sized fighter enterprise is the down payment required for successful joint force operations,” writes Douglas A. Birkey, executive director for the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
Pentagon leaders had hoped their next big competition for satellite launches would usher new entrants into the market. Instead, the work is poised to go to the pair of companies that currently dominate the market—at least for now. In February, the Space Force announced that it would split the bidding for dozens of launches into two groups. “Lane 1” will include the “more risk tolerant” missions, “Lane 2” the more challenging and “critical” ones. By hiving off a pool of easier missions to bid for, Space Force leaders hope to enable emerging companies to better compete against industry leaders SpaceX and ULA.
Russian warplanes are flying increasingly close to American fighter jets in the skies over Syria “like they're trying to dogfight,” the top U.S. Air Force general in the region said. Since March 1, Russian pilots have acted in hostile ways that have U.S. military leaders concerned about the possibilities for miscalculation and escalation.
The Massachusetts Air National guardsman accused of leaking highly classified military documents kept an arsenal of guns and said on social media that he would like to kill a “ton of people,” prosecutors said in arguing April 27 that 21-year-old Jack Teixeira should remain in jail for his trial. The court filings raise new questions about why Teixeira had such a high security clearance and access to some of the nation’s most classified secrets. They said he may still have material that hasn’t been released, which could be of “tremendous value to hostile nation states that could offer him safe harbor and attempt to facilitate his escape from the United States.”
Virtually every part of the Department of the Air Force’s drive to modernize is being shaped by Secretary Frank Kendall’s seven Operational Imperatives—lines of effort that address the most important and urgent challenges facing the Air Force today. Now, the department and industry are working together to develop solutions for each imperative, and the results will likely change the Air Force and Space Force for the next generation. Keep up with all the latest news on each Operational Imperative.
U.S. Air Force A-10 Warthogs can now employ up to 16 GBU-39/B Small Diameter Bombs (SDBs) on a single sortie, among other stores, with the help of a new software update. Four of the five pylons under the fuselage were recently loaded with specialized bomb racks each holding four SDBs during a test sortie to validate the software for frontline distribution.
Pentagon overseers have given the Missile Defense Agency the green light to take the next step in developing the Glide Phase Interceptor (GPI), designed to shoot down hypersonic missiles before they begin the high-speed maneuvers that make them hard to engage, according to a senior MDA official.
The House committee dedicated to countering China is preparing bipartisan proposals for the fiscal 2024 defense authorization bill that would accelerate U.S. munitions production and arms transfers to Taiwan, its chairman told Defense News in an exclusive interview.
Chief Master Sgt. Roger A. Towberman, the Space Force’s first senior leader as well as its first ever enlisted service member, will be retiring this year. That means the Space Force, the newest and smallest military branch, is going through a full vetting process for a new top enlisted leader and has already begun interviewing candidates to replace him.
As the Pentagon explores how generative artificial intelligence capabilities like ChatGPT can be deployed to support the department, Space Systems Command Chief Information Officer Col. Jennifer Krolikowski is hopeful that the technology can be useful while recognizing it still has its shortfalls.
Raytheon Technologies last month won a $250 million contract to build seven missile-detection satellites for the U.S. Space Development Agency. David Broadbent, president of space and command-and-control systems at Raytheon Intelligence & Space, said the company is working to deliver the seven satellites by 2025 but plans to pursue a different strategy in future SDA satellite procurements.
At least some of the U.S. Air Force's fleet of F-117 Nighthawk stealth attack jets continue to enjoy a very active 'retirement' and are set to keep flying for around another decade or so. An aviation photographer who goes by @stinkjet on Instagram was kind enough to share pictures of two of these aircraft recently seen zooming along at very low altitude over California.