Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. David D. Thompson tested positive for COVID-19 on Oct. 28, the Department of the Air Force announced that evening. “He took the test today after learning that a close family member, with whom he had contact, tested positive for the virus,” the email states. Thompson is quarantining and working from home. Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., and Air Force Secretary Barbara M. Barrett have not tested positive for the new virus within the past 24 hours and will not quarantine.

The Air Force has an inadequate understanding of China as a potential adversary, service Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. warned Oct. 28. Brown, speaking during a Hoover Institution virtual event, said that while the National Defense Strategy outlines China as a key potential adversary, the USAF is too focused on how many planes the People’s Liberation Army Air Force has, how many rockets they can fire, and how far they can fly. The service needs to “start broadening and deepening our thinking of how the PRC operates, how the People’s Liberation Army Air Force operates. How they think, how they make decisions,” he said.

Boeing will pay another $67 million out of pocket for the KC-46 program, a cost attributed to COVID-19-related cost overruns and productivity deficiencies, though company leaders say the tanker won't be a “drag” on the company’s bottom line much longer. In a third quarter earnings call with investors, Boeing disclosed the charge as part of an overall $6.8 billion decrease in revenue for Boeing’s Defense, Space & Security division. The charge comes as the company is redesigning the tanker’s problematic remote vision system and is facing another delivery delay. “The tanker’s been a drag on us for three or four years in every way you can think of with respect to investors, but we are beginning to clear the hurdle with our customer with respect to performance in their fleet and their need for that tanker,” Boeing CEO David L. Calhoun said on the call.

Lt. Col. Jared “Vic” Santos, 388th Fighter Wing special projects manager, recently became the first USAF Airman to accrue 1,000 flying hours in the F-35A Lightning II fighter jet, the wing announced. Santos hit the milestone during an approximately two-hour, “four-on-six tactical intercept” training sortie Oct. 22 over the Utah Test and Training Range, according to a release.

F-15Es and Airmen from RAF Lakenheath, U.K., returned home after a six-month deployment to the Middle East where the “Bolars” flew more than 8,500 hours supporting combat operations in the region. The 492nd Fighter Squadron, supported by the 492nd Aircraft Maintenance Unit and the 48th Operational Support Squadron, deployed in May and dropped about 350 precision-guided munitions in support of the ongoing Operation Inherent Resolve, targeting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, according to a release.

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.