The Air Force is already flying a Next Generation Air Dominance combat airplane, which was designed and prototyped using new digital methods, service acquisition executive Will Roper said Sept. 15. The revelation was meant to assure people that the new approach works, works quickly, and should be the template for new systems of all kinds, he said, without revealing any programmatic details, except that the type has set “lots of records.” Roper made a slick presentation to AFA's virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference, borrowing from the movie “The Matrix” to highlight that USAF is at inflection point, demanding that it embrace new realities or stick with potentially losing approaches to fielding new gear.

Department of the Air Force leaders are preparing for a continuing resolution that could curb spending for several months, Air Force Secretary Barbara M. Barrett said Sept. 15. House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said he will bring CR legislation to the chamber floor for consideration next week, shortly before the fiscal year ends Sept. 30, according to Reuters. A CR would block the Air Force from investing in 54 new-start items affecting areas from pilot training to cyber operations software, and Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. Raymond warned a CR will stunt the new service’s growth as it tries to get on its feet.

Despite an anticipated flat budget for fiscal year 2022, the Air Force is still holding onto the goal of building up to 386 combat wings, or their equivalent in combat capability, senior leaders said in a press conference at AFA's virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference. The figure remains an “aspiration,” but the top service officials couldn't predict when the Air Force and Space Force might get there. Air Force Secretary Barbara A. Barrett noted that the figure was established before Space Force was, which could alter the calculus.

When the Space Force’s first seven enlisted recruits head to Basic Military Training next month, they will become the guinea pigs in one of many experiments underway in the new service aimed at building a better armed force. The service is embarking on a series of what Chief Master Sgt. Roger A. Towberman, the service’s senior enlisted adviser, calls “small-batch solutions.” “Do we have to do basic training separately from anything?” he said. "Could we do basic training as part of tech school and it's just called training and you just show up and you do it all together in one location?”

The Space Force plans to ditch its promotion tests for enlisted Airmen in favor of promotion boards that shape well-rounded service members. The service wants to measure how its members solve problems, not simply ask them to repeat what they’ve learned, Chief Master Sgt. Roger A. Towberman, the Space Force’s senior enlisted adviser, told Air Force Magazine. Instead of advancing the best test takers to mid- and high-level ranks, the Space Force would set up promotion boards “for every enlisted rank above E-4,” or senior Airman, Towberman said.

The head of U.S. Air Forces in Europe is “convinced” the command will base F-35As at RAF Lakenheath, U.K., on time in late 2021, despite some delays to military construction and a possible slowdown in F-35 deliveries because of COVID-19. “I am clear eyed that we’ve got a fair amount of work to do from the infrastructure needed to get the facilities ready, and at the same time work through the natural challenges of any bed down that has to do with the appropriate connectivity, security clearances, and those types of activities required to get an airplane in,” USAFE boss Gen. Jeffrey L. Harrigian told reporters during a panel at AFA’s virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference on Sept. 14. “But, we’re looking at the end of ’21 as the target remains on track for us to get the airplanes here.”

The Air Force will reactivate its 495th Fighter Squadron to support the F-35 mission at RAF Lakenheath, U.K., 48th Fighter Wing spokesperson Maj. Sybil V. Taunton confirmed to Air Force Magazine via email on Sept. 15. “Overall we will see a plus-up of roughly 1,200 personnel to operate and support two full squadrons of F-35s,” she wrote, noting that the base's first Joint Strike Fighters are still slated to reach the base late next year. The squadron, which the 48th Fighter Wing History Office writes was deactivated in December 1991, previously operated F-111F Aardvark aircraft, Taunton noted.

United Launch Alliance, America’s longtime space launch provider, recently cut ties with one of its suppliers amid worries that the company’s Chinese owner could steal sensitive information. ULA Chief Executive Officer Tory Bruno discussed his “wake-up call” that the Chinese could access proprietary data during the AFA’s virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference. Kuka, the Germany-based robotics firm acquired by China’s Midea Group in 2017, provided ULA with tooling software that helps manufacture rockets like the future Vulcan Centaur.

United Launch Alliance Chief Executive Officer Tory Bruno has made a career out of building rockets that carry heavy objects across long distances. But 50 years in the future, as the U.S. returns to the moon and pushes beyond, he expects a new approach to ferrying cargo across the cosmos to emerge. Delivery from the ground to low Earth orbit will become a commodified service, and will connect to a still-emerging network of in-space transportation options, Bruno said Sept. 15 during the Air Force Association's virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference.

The Pentagon’s decision to keep the 352nd Special Operations Wing at its current home of RAF Mildenhall, U.K., necessitates new military construction to update the base's neglected infrastructure for the Airmen, CV-22s, and MC-130s, though it also means the wing can stay in a familiar training area. In 2015, the Air Force announced plans to move the 352nd SOW and the 100th Air Refueling Wing from Mildenhall to Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, and ultimately close the East Anglian base. That plan was delayed multiple times; then, until earlier this summer, the Pentagon and U.S. European Command announced plans to withdraw more than 11,000 troops from Germany, move Spangdahlem’s F-16s to Italy, and keep Mildenhall open. AFSOC boss Lt. Gen. James C. Slife said Sept. 15 that AFSOC is in full support of the plan, with the wing comfortable and used to operating in the Mildenhall area. “Obviously we haven’t invested in infrastructure in Mildenhall in a number of years in anticipation of a move to Spangdahlem, but we recognize the change in policy and we’re supportive of that,” Slife said.

The Air Force still needs 220 total bombers, including about 100 new B-21s, though that target is a “living number” that can change as the Raider comes online and aging aircraft are modernized and outfitted with advanced weapons, the head of Air Force Global Strike Command said. Gen. Timothy M. Ray, speaking at the Air Force Association’s virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference, said the number as outlined in the service’s bomber roadmap is not set in stone. For example, when the roadmap was first announced the planned total was 175, but that number has since grown. Recently, Ray said he has presented it to the Armed Services Committees on Capitol Hill and it has garnered support. “I think we’ve put some real rigor into that, and it’s a real plan now,” Ray said.

Physical fitness could look a little different in the newest branch of the military, as officials consider more holistic, functional exercises and fewer PT tests. “We could do it more efficiently,” Chief Master Sgt. Roger A. Towberman, the Space Force’s senior enlisted adviser, told Air Force Magazine on Sept. 11. “The focus shouldn't be on the test. The focus should be on the process of being fit.” Towberman said the service needs to have a conversation about the relevance and safety of situps and pushups, suggesting the Space Force may favor planks to measure core strength instead.

On March 23, the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies will host a virtual Nuclear Deterrence Series event featuring Scowcroft Group Principal Frank Miller. At a time when nuclear modernization programs are accelerating around the world, proposals to recapitalize the U.S. nuclear arsenal are at the forefront of debates over defense spending. Miller will share his insights into the prospects for U.S. nuclear modernization programs and the value of nuclear deterrence in today's competitive security environment. The think tank will post event video on its website and YouTube page after the live event.