Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah blamed Israel on Sept. 19 for the explosion of electronic devices across Lebanon this week, calling the operation an “act of war” and vowing to respond, as the Israeli military signaled it was moving ahead with plans for a new phase of the conflict along the two countries’ border.
The Air Force needs higher-tech tools and sensors that can monitor networks for signs of malware and sort through the millions of alerts it receives each day indicating potential compromises, according to the leader of the service’s cyber enterprise.
The Air Force is planning a tabletop exercise to gauge U.S. readiness to react to a wide spectrum of nuclear-related scenarios, part of a larger effort to prepare for them, a service leader said on Sept. 18. “What if, God forbid, there was a low-yield [nuclear weapon] use in Europe tomorrow?” Lt. Gen. Andrew J. Gebara, deputy chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration, said at the Air & Space Forces Association conference outside Washington, D.C.
Victoria Wyler, Defense Unicorns’ Growth Lead discusses software acquisition at AFA’s 2024 Air, Space & Cyber Conference at the Gaylord Convention Center in National Harbor, Md.
The reintroduction of warrant officers in the Air Force for the first time in over 65 years will help improve the overall readiness and longevity for the teams it presents to U.S. Cyber Command, according to a top commander. ... Each of the military services is responsible for providing personnel for a set number of cyber mission force teams to CYBERCOM, which then employs those forces in operations for geographic combatant commands. The new warrant officers are expected to help with the longevity of work roles within those teams.
Ahead of a formal rollout in coming days, the head of Space Systems Command revealed to Breaking Defense three new “major efforts” detailed in his “action plan”—an initiative he hopes will hone the command during his time in the hotseat and beyond.
Recently awarded a $229 million Pentagon contract, the IT firm SAIC sees its mission to modernize systems at U.S. Northern Command and NORAD as critical to fending off America’s foes, especially in the Arctic, a company executive told Breaking Defense.
John Breitenbach, Director Aerospace & Defense Markets, RTI, talks about data networks at AFA’s 2024 Air, Space & Cyber Conference at the Gaylord Convention Center in National Harbor, Md.
The U.S. Space Force is exploring commercial partnerships and international collaborations to enhance its ability to monitor space activities in the face of growing orbital congestion and potential threats, a senior official said Sept. 18. Speaking at the Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies (AMOS) Conference in Maui, Hawaii, Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, commander of the Space Systems Command, said the Space Force is facing pressure to improve “space domain awareness”—the ability to track and understand what is happening with satellites and other objects in space.
Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota has fired another commander from his position, after removing another top officer from his role just last month. Lt. Col. Carsten Stahr, commander of the 28th Force Support Squadron, was relieved from duty last week, a brief news release from the base said. Col. Derek Oakley, the 28th Bomb Wing commander at Ellsworth, said it was “due to loss of trust and confidence” in Stahr’s leadership abilities related to the squadron.
The U.S. Air Force’s top special operations officer says AC-130J Ghostrider gunships will continue being armed with 105mm howitzers for the time being, though this could still change in future. The service had been considering removing these weapons from the AC-130Js amid a growing debate about the relevance of the gunships in future high-end conflicts, such as one in the Pacific against China.
Julian Thomas, Engineering Director, TT Electronics discusses aircraft power advances at AFA’s 2024 Air, Space & Cyber Conference at the Gaylord Convention Center in National Harbor, Md.
An amendment added to the Senate’s version of the fiscal year 2024 defense authorization bill would direct the Pentagon to establish a new “Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Weapon Systems Center of Excellence.” The amendment ... calls on the new COE to “capture, analyze, assess, and share lessons learned across the Department of Defense regarding the latest advancements in artificial intelligence-enabled weapon systems, countermeasures, tactics, techniques and procedures, and training methodologies.”
The largest schoolhouse for young Airmen in Europe now carries the name of one of the most popular former chief master sergeants of the Air Force. A sign for the Kaleth O. Wright Airman Leadership School was unveiled Sept. 19 during a ceremony at this small installation a few miles from Ramstein Air Base in southwestern Germany.
