Radar Sweep
Snapshot: DOD and COVID-19
Here's a look at how the Defense Department is being impacted by and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Medical-Grade Masks Required as of Next Week at Air Force Installations in Kaiserslautern
Medical-grade face masks will have to be worn in public facilities on Ramstein Air Base and other Air Force installations in the Kaiserslautern area starting next week, the 86th Airlift Wing said Jan. 28.
Russian Parliament OKs New START Nuclear Treaty Extension
Russian lawmakers on Jan. 27 quickly approved the extension of the last remaining nuclear Russia-U.S. arms control treaty, a fast-track action that comes just days before it’s due to expire.
Russian Missile System Spirited Out of Libya by US
A truck-mounted Russian air defence missile system captured on a Libyan battlefield was flown intact to a US air base in Germany in a covert mission, The Times has learned. The operation was ordered amid concerns that the Pantsir S-1 missile battery, which can easily bring down civilian aircraft, could fall into the hands of militias or arms smugglers in the war-torn north African country.
Biden Admin Pauses Controversial Arms Sales for Review
The State Department is pausing multiple arms sales pushed through by the Trump administration to "allow incoming leadership an opportunity to review," according to a State Department official.
Biden Seen Likely to Keep Space Force, a Trump Favorite
To the last moments of his presidency, Donald J. Trump trumpeted the Space Force as a creation for the ages. And while President Joe Biden has quickly undone other Trump initiatives, the space-faring service seems likely to survive, even if the new administration pushes it lower on the list of defense priorities.
OPINION: Are Flat Pentagon Budgets the New Up or the New Down?
“The Biden administration probably will not unveil an outyear spending plan for the Defense Department until the late spring of 2021 at the earliest, and more likely it will come out with the fiscal 2023 budget submission in February 2022,” writes Byron Callan, a contributing columnist at the Aviation Week Network and a director at Capital Alpha Partners in Washington. “The administration should, however, be commenting on some of the bigger changes as different reviews and assessments are completed before that budget plan is released.”
Military Eyes AI, Cloud Computing in Space in a Decade
Physics keeps the Pentagon from orbiting a computer powerful enough for machine learning. So they’re building a network in space.
DIU Scaling Up Commercial Cyber Threat Deception Platform
The innovation group extended an other transaction agreement with cybersecurity firm CounterCraft with an eye to moving to a production contract in the coming months.
Joint All-Domain Awareness
Get a better sense of the drive for greater connectedness between air, space, cyber, land, cyber, and maritime forces Catch up on all things JADC2 now.
SECDEF Says Germany Is ‘Highly Valued’ Station for American Troops
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III told Germany’s Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer in his first conversation with her since taking up his new post that Germany is “highly valued” as a station for American soldiers, the Defense Ministry said Jan. 28.
The Guard Isn’t Going Home. Leaders Fear Retention May Suffer
On the morning of Jan. 20, two divisions’ worth of National Guard troops—around 26,000, according to National Guard Bureau data shared with Military Times—from 50 states and three territories stood watch in the nation’s capital for the inauguration of President Joe Biden. Some even rode the Metro to their posts, helmets on and rifles slung.
Play USAF’s E.C.H.O.
The Air Force’s Enhanced Cognitive Human Ops—or E.C.H.O., for short— is a fun, interactive experience that tests for the cognitive skills that Airmen use every day.