The Pentagon is considering paying for the Starlink satellite network—which has been a lifeline for Ukraine—from a fund that has been used to supply weapons and equipment over the long term, according to two U.S. officials who are involved in the deliberations. The Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative is designed to provide enduring support for the Ukrainian military by financing contracts with American firms for weapons and equipment that would be delivered in months or even years.
The U.S. is pushing to upgrade its 60-year-old fleet of strategic bombers to keep them flying into the second half of the 21st century in an effort to deter potential adversaries such as China and Russia. Air Force officials and military experts have said the refresh of the B-52 bomber—a long-range jet built by Boeing that can carry large loads of conventional and nuclear weapons—is crucial to providing an effective deterrent. The B-52 revamp could cost $11.8 billion, according to Pentagon budget documents in the spring.
Few experts know the opaque Chinese military as well as Dean Cheng, recently retired analyst at the Heritage Foundation and other Washington institutions. In this analysis, Cheng lays out what to watch for as the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party gets underway, and what it means for the balance of power between the United States, China, and Taiwan.
The Air Force this month demonstrated an exoskeleton it hopes will allow aerial porters to load cargo onto aircraft with fewer injuries and less fatigue. The Forge System exoskeleton is designed to augment the leg strength of aerial porters, who are in charge of managing and loading passengers and cargo on and off mobility aircraft, with pneumatically-powered leg braces and a backpack.
Sexual harassment victims serving in the Air Force and Space Force will now have more privacy and control over reporting incidents under a new policy the service introduced to protect service members. The policy, which went into place Sept. 30, allows Department of the Air Force service members to make an unrestricted sexual harassment report, which would trigger an investigation with the base's Equal Opportunity office, or a restricted report, which allows for confidential disclosure of an incident and doesn't notify the chain of command while still offering the victim advocacy services. Previously, those two options were limited to sexual assault cases.
The Senate’s annual defense authorization bill will now include $10 billion in military aid for Taiwan—more than double the initial amount proposed—even as it scales back language intended to help address the $14 billion backlog of arms sales the Asian nation already made from the U.S. Senate Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., included a modified Taiwan defense package as part of a massive bipartisan amendment he filed last week to the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act.
Amazon’s Project Kuiper will install DOD-compliant laser communications terminals on its internet satellites so they can transfer data from remote-sensing satellites directly into the military’s mesh network in low Earth orbit. Derek Tournear, director of the U.S. Space Force’s Space Development Agency, said the plan is for some Kuiper satellites to serve as “translators” so they can support high-speed data transfer, for example, from commercial imaging satellites to military users on the ground.
The Air Force could enlist industry to build 75 new center consoles per year for the KC-135 tanker. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio said that it wants company feedback on “your installation approach, capabilities, and annual throughput to achieve maximum production per month/year (targeted at 75 aircraft per year).”
From some of the usual suspects (like battle that secured Americans a victory in the Revolutionary War) to battles with more unusual outcomes (like the World War II engagement that helped instigate a medical breakthrough, or the devastating attack that indirectly contributed to the Renaissance) these pivotal military engagements in this list—altered the course of history.