The Associated Press
As tensions with Iran have escalated over its nuclear program, the U.S. military this month posted pictures of a powerful bomb designed to penetrate deep into the earth and destroy underground facilities that could be used to enrich uranium. The U.S. Air Force on May 2 released rare images of the weapon, the GBU-57, known as the “Massive Ordnance Penetrator.” Then it took the photos down—apparently because the photographs revealed sensitive details about the weapon’s composition and punch.
Breaking Defense
The Space Force and the Intelligence Community are slowly honing in on a multi-faceted agreement about their respective roles in buying intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) data from commercial satellite operators, according to officials from both sides, centering on how new contracting arrangements could foster sharing and avoid duplication.
Air & Space Forces Magazine
Driven by advancements in technology and research, the Air Force and Space Force are adapting how they train their warfighters to complete the missions at hand. Keep up with all the latest news on changes and improvements to the services’ training enterprises.
SpaceNews
Commercial satellite imagery is helping NATO address its need for persistent monitoring in spite of cost, technical, and licensing issues. “NATO is not all that wealthy and the price for commercial satellite imagery is pretty high,” Paul Bowman, who leads the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance cell for NATO’s Battlefield Intelligence Collection and Exploitation Systems, said May 22 at the GEOINT Symposium here. “There’s a limit to how much NATO is going to be able to invest in that.”
The Associated Press
The Air Force said May 22 it is looking at ways to better control access to classified information, in the wake of revelations that superiors of the Massachusetts Air National Guard member charged with leaking highly classified documents had raised concerns internally about his handling of sensitive data.
The War Zone
The F-117 Nighthawks—officially retired 15 years ago—continue to expand their reach in the adversary support and test and evaluation role as participants in Northern Edge 2023 (NE23) up in Alaska. We first heard that F-117s were players in Northern Edge—the Pentagon's massive test and training exercise that occurs in Alaska—last week. A pair of them had been operating out of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.
DefenseScoop
Gen. Paul Nakasone, commander of U.S. Cyber Command, last week released an updated set of strategic priorities for the command that seeks to “own the domain.” These refined priorities address global strategic challenges while enhancing CYBERCOM’s posture, according to the command.
Defense One
Could navigating around the Moon be as easy as loading your favorite GPS app? The Pentagon’s lead image-intelligence agency thinks so and is working to develop a lunar reference framework to guide future explorers around the Moon as safely and quickly as satellite-aided navigation does on Earth.
Defense News
Since taking over operational control of the Defense Department’s most prominent artificial intelligence tool in January, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has made “important strides” toward improving geolocation accuracy, detecting targets, and automating work processes, according to its director.
POLITICO
For more than a year, Kyiv has asked for modern fighter jets, and the Biden administration’s answer has either been “no,” or “not right now.” That changed late last week, when President Joe Biden told allies that he would support an international coalition to train Ukrainian pilots on Western fighters, paving the way for modern jets to one day be transferred to the front line.
One More Thing
Dayton Daily News
Like Wright-Patterson Air Force Base itself, the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force is unmistakably Dayton, Ohio-bred and born. The museum celebrates its 100th anniversary with a special exhibit that opened May 21. The exhibit offers a detailed look at the museum’s history, complete with rare photos and the citation of little-known facts.
