Voice of America
The U.S. Air Force said Aug. 20 that it was the subject of a “propaganda attack” by a previously unheard-of Iraqi militant group that falsely claimed it had launched a drone attack targeting American troops at an air base in Kuwait. The statement by the Air Force's 386th Air Expeditionary Wing came hours after the group calling itself Al-Waretheen, or “The Inheritors," put out an online statement claiming that Aug. 12, it targeted Kuwait's Ali Al Salem Air Base. The statement included a video showing a drone being launched from a stand but offered no evidence of an attack or any damage done at the base.
The Associated Press
The Russian military said Aug. 18 that it has deployed warplanes armed with state-of-the-art hypersonic missiles to the country's westernmost Baltic region, a move that comes amid soaring tensions with the West over Moscow's action in Ukraine. Russia's Defense Ministry said three MiG-31 fighters with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles arrived at the Chkalovsk air base in the Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad as part of “additional measures of strategic deterrence.” The ministry said the warplanes will be put on round-the-clock alert.
The Associated Press
Housing has long been a major benefit for service members, a subsidy to salaries that trail the private sector. But, amid record-breaking spikes in rent, the Department of Defense has neglected its commitment to help military families find affordable places to live, service members and housing activists say. That’s forced many to settle for substandard homes, deal with extremely long commutes, or pay thousands out of pocket they hadn’t budgeted for.
Military.com
Applications to the service academies dropped significantly this past year—ranging from 10 percent to nearly 30 percent—as the military continues to grapple with recruitment woes amid a national dip in college enrollment across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Reuters
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said China's actions around Taiwan increase the level of risk and that he hoped China's behavior returns to the norms that were established before. China, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has been staging military exercises this month to show its anger about a visit to Taipei by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, blaming Washington for the tension. Kendall, speaking to reporters on a teleconference from the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam as part of a trip to the region that will also take in Australia and Japan, said: "We are living in a dangerous time.”
Defense Daily
The Air Force is looking to industry members to help sustain the BAE Systems Lite Head-Up Display (LiteHUD) that the service is installing on the Lockheed Martin AC-130J Ghost Rider gunship for Air Force Special Operations Command as part of the SideHUD effort for the aircraft. The winning contractor would help train, equip, and establish depot-level repair of LiteHUD in the continental United States.
Air Force Magazine
The Air Force is transitioning to more virtual training to give pilots an edge, saying some higher-end maneuvers cannot be replicated in real-time training. Learn more on Air Force Magazine’s Live, Virtual & Constructive Training page.
Airforce-technology
The Swedish Armed Forces has carried out a joint exercise along with the U.S. Air Force and the Royal Norwegian Air Force. This exercise involved the participation of two Swedish JAS Gripen aircraft and two Norwegian F-35 fighter aircraft. The USAF deployed its four B-52 Stratofortress aircraft and bomber task force from Minot Air Force Base, N.D. As part of this exercise, the B-52 aircraft joined the Swedish and Norwegian fighter jets in the west of Andøya, Norway.
Fed Scoop
National and military laboratories’ aging infrastructure has deteriorated, and that concern is top of mind for the Pentagon’s No. 2 official. After visiting the Air Force Research Laboratory, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen H. Hicks confirmed that she’s keen to help drive the modernization of the research and development facilities that the DOD relies on for next-generation capabilities. “It is an issue area that I’m very focused on,” Hicks said.
Standard-Examiner
Forty thousand instances of domestic abuse occurred across all branches of military service between 2015 and 2019, according to a Government Accountability Office study drawing the attention of members of Congress last year. In an attempt to combat domestic abuse and similar forms of interpersonal violence, the Air Force has established a program to test effectiveness of five support systems already in place.
PV Magazine
UbiQD, a nanotechnology company, has revealed that its quantum dot solar technology will be used in a Small Business Innovation Research project with the Air Force. The contract provides funding for two installations of more than 20 windows and additional scale-up and development funds for the product. The company uses luminescent quantum dot tinting to concentrate solar energy and generate electricity while maintaining transparency. Quantum dots are photoluminescent particles so small that it would take 100,000 of them to span one fingernail, said UbiQD.
One More Thing
Task & Purpose
If you like airplanes, you’ll probably get a kick out of Red Flag, a training exercise where air and ground crews from across the military and around the world gather at Air Force bases to practice large-scale air combat operations. The exercise happens several times a year, but the latest edition of Red Flag at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, featured more than just fast jets: It also boasted mustaches, lots of mustaches.
