Breaking Defense
The U.S. Department of Defense and the European Defence Agency (EDA) this week reached a new agreement designed to provide a framework for transatlantic cooperation on shared defense issues covering supply chains, military mobility, climate change, and information exchange. The signing of the Administrative Arrangement by Pentagon acquisition chief Bill LaPlante and EDA chief executive Jiři Šedivý in Brussels looks to be a step towards the U.S. and European Union moving past longstanding disagreements over protectionist measures designed to keep European defense trade flowing to European companies, rather than their American competitors.
SpaceNews
The U.S. Air Force Navigation Technology Satellite-3—a flight experiment seven years in the making—is undergoing final tests ahead of a projected 2024 launch. A lot is riding on this project. The $250 million experiment led by the Air Force Research Laboratory aims to deliver novel technologies for space-based positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT). It’s also seen as a test case for the management of the so-called PNT enterprise, which includes the satellites, the ground system, and the receivers that allow users to talk to the satellites.
DefenseScoop
The Department of Defense has awarded three companies—Northrop Grumman, General Electric and Carbon-Carbon Advanced Technologies (C-CAT)—contracts to expand and strengthen the United States’ industrial base for hypersonic missiles and other strategic systems, the Pentagon announced April 28.
Air & Space Forces Magazine
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has defined seven Operational Imperatives for the Department of the Air Force to work on, warning that “if we don't get them right, we will have unacceptable operational risk.” From a resilient space order of battle to the development of next-generation tactical air dominance and global strike platforms, these imperatives will define the Air Force for decades to come—Dive deeper into each one with our new “Operational Imperatives” pages highlighting all the latest news and developments on these critical efforts.
The War Zone
A Chinese TB-001 Scorpion medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) drone has flown an apparently unprecedented mission around Taiwan, according to authorities on the island. The drone sortie came as part of the latest spike in Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) air and naval activity in the Taiwan Strait, something that has become more commonplace in recent months. However, according to local reports, this is the first time that Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense has publicly acknowledged that a PLA aircraft ‘encircled’ the island in this way.
Nikkei
The U.S. Air Force is considering a plan to land strategic bombers in South Korea and to regularly deploy the aircraft in and around the Korean Peninsula, Nikkei has learned. Combined with visits by a nuclear ballistic missile submarine to South Korea, the latest move would enhance extended deterrence by providing a visible demonstration of the ability to counterattack North Korea. The commander of the U.S. Pacific Air Forces, Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, discussed the plan in an interview with Nikkei on April 27.
Associated Press
President Joe Biden is set to host President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines for White House talks May 1 as concerns grow about the Chinese navy’s harassment of Philippine vessels in the South China Sea. Marcos’ visit to Washington comes after the U.S. and Philippines last week completed their largest war drills ever and as the two countries’ air forces on May 1 will hold their first joint fighter jet training in the Philippines since 1990.
Defense One
Keeping the next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile program on schedule will be “a challenge,” the U.S. Air Force said April 27, raising new questions about the replacement for the Pentagon’s decades-old Minuteman III. The first of the Northrop Grumman-built nuclear missiles, known as the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent, are slated to be ready by 2029.
Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies
In Episode 126 of the Aerospace Advantage, F-35 Update: Test Flight Perspective, John Baum discusses what happens when an F-35 rolls off the production line and executes its first flights with Lockheed Martin F-35 test pilot Tony “Brick” Wilson and J.R. McDonald, Vice President for F-35 Business Development.
Breaking Defense
The Pentagon may get an ARRW in its quiver after all. In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee April 27, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said the service was waiting on the conclusion of all-up-round tests for the hypersonic Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) before officials make a procurement decision—roughly one month after acquisition chief Andrew Hunter seemed to tell lawmakers in written testimony that the service would not go on to buy it once its prototyping phase concludes.
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The Washington Post
When Poland and Slovakia announced their plans to donate up to 30 MiG fighter jets to Ukraine, it was hailed as a breakthrough in getting Kyiv ever more sophisticated weaponry and as a sign that Eastern European nations were prepared to be bolder than the United States or NATO allies in Western Europe. Ukrainian soldiers and military experts say the donated planes will not be a game changer.
One More Thing
PBS
President Joe Biden on April 28 awarded the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy to the Air Force Academy for winning football games against its rival U.S. service academies. “Simply put, you can’t talk about the soul of the nation without talking about our service academies,” Biden told the team gathered in the White House’s East Room. “And you can’t talk about the service academies without talking about duty, teamwork, service and excellence. That’s all about you.”
