AMC Finishing Up Analysis for Next-Generation Tanker
Air Mobility Command is nearly done submitting its analysis of alternatives for the Next-Generation Air-Refueling System (NGAS), Gen. John D. Lamontagne said March 5 at the AFA Warfare Symposium.
Space Force to Stand Up Guardian Recruiting Squadron with Mandate for New Mindset
The Space Force is establishing its first Guardian recruiters as the service seeks to take greater ownership of its force from day one, with aim of setting up a full squadron of around 30 Guardian recruiters later this year.
WATCH: Space Superiority Take Center Stage at AFA Colorado
Air & Space Forces Magazine sat down with Charles Galbreath, retired Space Force colonel and a senior fellow with the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, at the AFA Warfare Symposium to talk about Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman’s message to Guardians and all things space happening at the conference.
How Flying Test Bed Work Has Helped B-21 Make Good Progress
The first B-21 bomber is making good progress through its flight testing campaign and has required minimal software tweaks, building on extensive shakeouts of its systems carried out on a flying test bed, the president of Northrop Grumman’s aeronautics division said at the AFA Warfare Symposium on March 5.
Why Intelligence Agencies Think They Can Finally Build a Common Picture for Warfighters
The defense intelligence community has tried three times in the past decade to build a “common intelligence picture”—a single data stream providing the information that commanders need to make decisions about the battlefield. The first two attempts failed. But officials say things are different today.
CCA Logistics: How USAF and Industry Plan to Rise to the Challenge
This week’s revelation that the Air Force had designated its first uncrewed fighters set the stage for the makers of the two aircraft to talk about the logistics of deploying them to dispersed locations.
WATCH: Examining the State of Air Force Readiness
Retired Air Force Col. John “JV” Venable, a former F-16 pilot and a senior fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, visited with Air & Space Forces Magazine at the AFA Warfare Symposium to talk about the state of readiness across the Air Force, from spare parts to flying hours.
NATO Shifts Strategy Based on Lessons Learned from Ukraine
NATO is evolving its defense strategy and military posture, drawing on lessons learned from Ukraine's conflict. NATO and Ukraine launched the Joint Analysis Training and Education Centre (JATEC) in Poland to leverage real-time lessons from the ongoing conflict to inform defense planning.
Space Force Takes New Approach to Ground Control Systems
The Space Force is modernizing its approach to ground control software, taking a more modular, agile, and iterative approach in a drive to overcome the bugs, holdups and delays that have plagued complex ground control systems in the past, leaders said at the AFA Warfare Symposium.
Radar Sweep
Russia Is Chasing a Deal to Keep Its Military Bases in Syria
The Wall Street Journal
Days before the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, Russia said the Syrian rebels advancing on Damascus were terrorists. Now, with those rebels in power, Moscow senses an opportunity to both expand its economic footprint in Syria and hold on to its military bases there.
In 15 Months, the Navy Fired More Air Defense Missiles Than It Did in the Last 30 Years
Task & Purpose
The U.S. Navy has used more missiles for air defense since combat operations in the Red Sea began in October 2023 than the service used in all the years since Operation Desert Storm in the 1990s, said retired Navy Cmdr. Bryan Clark, of the Hudson Institute.
Space Force Hopes It Gains from Hegseth’s Budget Shift
Defense One
The Space Force’s vice chief hopes his service gets upgrades with some of the $50 billion per year that Pentagon leaders want to shift around in upcoming budgets. “We are woefully underfunded in ‘protect and defend’” systems, Gen. Michael Guetlein, the vice chief of space operations, said during the Ronald Reagan Institute’s National Security Innovation Base Summit on March 5.
‘Warheads on Foreheads’: Top Leaders for Air Force, Space Force Leaning into Defense Secretary’s Rhetoric
Military.com
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin wanted to make it clear: The troops that he oversees will do whatever President Donald Trump wants them to, and they’ll be ready for it. ... It wasn’t just the Air Force. Gen. Chance Saltzman, the Space Force’s top leader, made it clear during his keynote speech that same evening that Guardians are also “warfighters” who must be ready for conflict, and the service must go on the offensive to achieve “space superiority” against the nation's adversaries.
Trump Administration Pauses Flow of Intelligence to Ukraine That Helps on Battlefield
The Associated Press
The U.S. has paused its intelligence sharing with Ukraine, cutting off the flow of vital information that has helped the war-torn nation target Russian invaders, but Trump administration officials said March 5 that positive talks between Washington and Kyiv mean it may only be a short suspension.
DIU, Air Force Move Forward with 2 Vendors to Next Phase of Enterprise Test Vehicle Program
DefenseScoop
The Defense Innovation Unit has chosen Anduril and Zone 5 Technologies to move to the next phase of a program aimed at developing an affordable and modular air vehicle for the Air Force.
Secret Space Force Payloads Monitor China’s Satellite Surveillance Network, Official Says
Breaking Defense
For several years, the Space Force has had a secretive, orbital tool that can gather information on China’s own network of sensors that monitor American satellites, according to a key service official. Calling the project a “quasi-operational success,” Kelly Hammett, director of the Space Rapid Capabilities Office (SRCO), said in a briefing with reporters at the AFA Warfare Symposium that “situational awareness indications and warning payloads” have been “collecting all kinds of very interesting data on the Chinese SOSI [Space Observation Surveillance and Identification System] network.”
Silicon Valley Players Aim to Follow SpaceX’s Disruptive Path in Defense Sector
SpaceNews
SpaceX in just a few years upended the military launch business, capturing contracts that were once the exclusive domain of United Launch Alliance, the Boeing-Lockheed joint venture. Now, as a new wave of commercial tech firms pushes into the defense sector, industry executives see an opportunity for Silicon Valley’s biggest players to challenge traditional prime contractors across defense and space programs.
F-15’s New EPAWSS Electronic Warfare Suite Already Has Successor in Development
The War Zone
The F-15E’s Eagle Passive/Active Warning Survivability System, or EPAWSS, may only just have been issued to frontline units, but BAE Systems is already working on a new iteration of the radar warning and electronic warfare suite. The new EPAWSSv2 has not yet been flown, but the manufacturer is confident that its improved processing power and ability to handle a greater number of threats—coupled with other undisclosed improvements—will be of interest to Eagle operators, including the U.S. Air Force.
Pentagon Signs AI Deal to Aid Military Decision-Making
The Hill
The Department of Defense has signed a contract with start-up Scale AI to use artificial intelligence for military planning and operations, marking the Pentagon’s latest incorporation of emerging tech into its workflows.
Despite Provisional Purgatory, New Air Force Command Making Moves
National Defense Magazine
The Air Force activated the provisional Integrated Capabilities Command in September 2024 to accelerate its modernization efforts, but a pause from the Pentagon has kept it stuck in provisional status. But the provisional command is still getting work done.
USAF’s Combat Boss Pushes for More Private Red Air
Aviation Week
The U.S. Air Force should increase its use of contracted adversary aircraft to provide more training opportunities for its fighters, even though the privately owned “red air” cannot replicate the highest end threats, the service’s top combat pilot argues.
Seven Injured after South Korea Fighter Jet Accidentally Drops Bombs
BBC News
Seven people in South Korea were injured, four of them seriously, after a fighter jet accidentally dropped eight bombs in a civilian district during a live-fire military exercise. The incident involving the KF-16 aircraft took place at around 10:04 local time (01:04 GMT) in the city of Pocheon, near the border with North Korea.