Air Force Times
A civilian maintainer was hospitalized for nearly a week with multiple broken bones and other injuries after the nose of a T-38A Talon training jet collapsed on him at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., in February 2023, according to an Air Force investigation. The unnamed contractor was lubricating the Talon’s landing gear as part of routine maintenance on the jet.
The Wall Street Journal
For Vladimir Putin’s war machine, tether has become indispensable. It helps Russian companies weave around Western sanctions and procure what is called dual-use goods that go into drones and other high-tech equipment. Importers working with such goods make transfers in rubles into Russian bank accounts operated by middlemen who convert the rubles into tether and pay out local currency to their foreign suppliers in places like China and the Middle East.
POLITICO
The U.S. government is considering major new weapons sales to Israel of fighter jets, air-to-air missiles and guidance kits, as calls grow for the U.S. to withhold arms if Israel won’t do more to limit civilian casualties in Gaza. The Biden administration is weighing selling Israel up to 50 new F-15 fighter jets, 30 AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles, and a number of Joint Direct Attack Munition kits, which turn dumb bombs into precision-guided weapons, according to a congressional aide and a person familiar with the discussions.
Breaking Defense
The Pentagon has lifted lightning restrictions for the most widely used version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, allowing the Lockheed Martin jet to fly in thunderstorms for the first time since 2020, Breaking Defense has learned. The Defense Department formally lifted the restrictions on March 19 after devising a hardware and software fix for the lightning protection system used aboard the F-35A conventional takeoff and landing variant, JPO spokesman Russ Goemaere said in response to a press inquiry.
DefenseScoop
The Air Force is expanding its outreach to contractors to explore how different automation and AI technologies could be integrated into its command-and-control modernization efforts. The service’s integrated program executive office for command, control, communications and battle management (C3BM) issued a sources-sought notice on Sam.gov for an “artificial intelligence and machine learning toolkit” that could improve reaction times.
SpaceNews
CopaSAT, a supplier of communications equipment, is seeing a surge in orders for its militarized Starshield satellite terminal since its launch a few months ago. The company, based in Seminole, Florida, designed a ruggedized satellite internet terminal that uses the Starshield electronically steered antenna built by SpaceX.
Defense News
The U.S. Department of Defense has established a dedicated cyber policy office, a move one official said underlines the significance of digital warfare. The department announced the creation of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy on March 29, a little more than a week after it actually opened its doors. The organization was mandated by the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act.
Military.com
A 26-year-old Airman on leave from his overseas duty station is going on a hunger strike outside the White House to protest the war in Gaza—a move he said was inspired by the self-immolation death of another Airman in February. Senior Airman Larry Hebert, an integrated avionics journeyman from New Hampshire currently stationed at Naval Station Rota in Spain, began the hunger strike at midnight April 1, he told Military.com in an interview. Hebert, who has served for six years, plans to continue the hunger strike—limiting himself to water and a juice supplement—for as long as he physically can.
Breaking Defense
After years of wrangling, Argentina and Denmark appear closer than ever to completing a deal for the South American nation to purchase a fleet of F-16s in what analysts said would be a boon not only for the Argentine Air Force (FAA) but for America in its competition with China across Latin America—should the deal go through. It’s also likely to be a key topic of discussion as Gen. Laura Richardson, commander of U.S. Southern Command, travels to Buenos Aires this week.
DefenseScoop
The Air Force’s electromagnetic reprogramming wing recently conducted its first internally focused exercise in an attempt to evaluate how it can perform its essential tasks that will be vital for defeating sophisticated adversaries such as China in a potential conflict.
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Inside Defense
The Defense Department is asking Congress to consider legislation that would allow for the streamlining of the milestone B phase of the weapon system acquisition process, which, according to DOD, currently suffers from a "bureaucratic bottleneck." Milestone B, also known as the engineering and manufacturing development phase, is the key pathway for large acquisition programs to eventually reach full-rate production and fielding.
One More Thing
Simple Flying
Is Air Force One a source of free souvenirs? According to POLITICO, some journalists think so. As a result, the new President of the White House Correspondents Association, Kelly O’Donnell, has had to send a stern note asking that all items remain on board.
