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Wall Street Journal
U.S. military officials say Guam would be a major staging point for bombers, submarines, and troops in any conflict involving the U.S. in the Pacific, including any clash over Taiwan if the U.S. were to become involved. Guam is also becoming more vulnerable, U.S. officials say, as China expands its military capabilities.
The Drive
The Air Force has failed for a third time to conduct a successful test of the rocket booster on a prototype AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon, or ARRW, hypersonic missile. This can only add to the palatable frustration within the service, as well as elsewhere in the U.S. military and in Congress, about the progress, or lack thereof, in the testing of various new hypersonic weapons.
Air Force release
A recent update to the Department of the Air Force writing guide, The Tongue and Quill, now allows Airmen and Guardians to include pronouns in their signature block. The Tongue and Quill provides formatting standards and guidelines for a number of official documents, including email, memoranda, letters, and papers.
National Defense Magazine
Billions of dollars are needed over the next decade to enhance the resiliency of the U.S. military’s aerial refueling enterprise, according to a new study. The global architecture, which consists of tanker aircraft, airfields, and bulk fuel storage and distribution, enables planes to refuel without landing and extends their reach. However, this strategic advantage for the United States is increasingly under threat as adversaries such as China improve their ability to attack aircraft and air bases, experts say.
Breaking Defense
On the heels of the Space Force’s second birthday Dec. 20, its supporters in Congress and industry observers are feeling somewhat like the parents of a human 2-year-old: proud, but also plenty frustrated.
BAE Systems
Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles are now over 50 years old, and the time to transition to the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent, a full ICBM weapon system replacement, is getting close. The need for optimized sustainment and readiness on Minuteman III is critical as the government prepares for GBSD’s anticipated initial operational capability in 2029. Helping the Air Force prepare for that transition is a critical mission for BAE Systems.
War on the Rocks
“Now that I’m back in the Air Force, albeit out of uniform, I’m concerned that in its haste to become the global leader in cyberspace operations, the Department of the Air Force has severely degraded its ability to provide serviceable information technology capabilities for Airmen and Guardians. This is where NATO had, in my opinion, placed too much emphasis, thereby putting its own fledgling cyberspace operational future at risk. Life can be weird,” writes retired Col. Don Lewis, who held a variety of operational, staff, and command positions at Air Force squadron, wing, and major command levels and Department of Defense agency and unified combatant command levels.
Federal News Network
The Air Force is drafting a new automation strategy to help guide the service’s investments in areas such as robotic process automation with an eye toward quickly passing data between systems without needing a human to do the work. Air Force Chief Information Officer Lauren Knausenberger said the service is still fleshing out the strategy. Knausenberger told Federal News Network it’ll probably be several more months before it’s coordinated. But she said a big part of the strategy is automating the movement of data.
Air Force release
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a $145.4 million contract for a new dormitory project under the Air Force Civil Engineer Center’s natural disaster recovery program. The project is the ninth military construction project awarded for the Tyndall rebuild.
One More Thing
Air Force Association
Some want to think America’s candle is again burning low. Now we must show the world what we’re made of—like Washington in the cold winter of 1777.
