China has rebuffed a U.S. request for a meeting between their defense chiefs on the sidelines of an annual security forum in Singapore this coming weekend, the Pentagon said May 29, showing the limits of a tentative rapprochement between the two rival powers.
President Joe Biden lauded the sacrifice of generations of U.S. troops who “dared all and gave all” fighting for their country and called on Americans to ensure their “sacrifice was not in vain” in Memorial Day observances at Arlington National Cemetery. Biden was joined at the traditional wreath-laying ceremony by first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Harris’ husband, Douglas Emhoff, for the 155th National Memorial Day Observance. He had a moment of contemplation in front of the wreath, which was adorned with flowers and a red, white, and blue bow, and then bowed his head in prayer.
In Episode 130 of the Aerospace Advantage podcast, host John “Slick” Baum chats with the Mitchell Institute’s retired Lt. Gen. Dave Deptula, retired Maj. Gen. Larry Stutzriem, and Doug Birkey about building out Ukrainian airpower. It comes down to breaking out of the land-centric war of attrition by striking key battlefield targets, gaining situational awareness to better employ forces, and fighting for control of the sky. The Biden administration’s decision to authorize the transfer of F-16s to Ukraine is the long-awaited breakthrough necessary to empower this possibility. But airplanes alone do not manifest effective airpower. It takes strategy, tactics, capabilities, and technology too.
The Space Development Agency is preparing to launch at least 13 satellites in late June, the agency’s director Derek Tournear said May 26. This will be SDA’s second launch of Tranche 0 satellites for its proliferated low Earth orbit constellation. Tranche 0 is a 28-satellite demonstration constellation. The first 10 spacecraft—eight communications satellites made by York Space and two missile-detection satellites made by SpaceX—launched April 2 on a SpaceX Falcon 9.
Driven by advancements in technology and research, the Air Force and Space Force are adapting how they train their warfighters to complete the missions at hand. Keep up with all the latest news on changes and improvements to the services’ training enterprises.
While Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft already may have abandoned the metaverse as yesterday’s news, the Defense Department and Intelligence Community continue to embrace the concept—with the theme of this year’s annual U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) in St. Louis, “GEOINT: From Maps to Metaverse.” The only rub is that no one seems to have precisely the same definition for what the metaverse is, how exactly to get there or what to do once inside.
Drones and ground vehicles showed off new artificial intelligence-driven capabilities to automatically spot and track enemy targets during a recent demonstration by the armed forces of the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. The test notably included the live updating of the targeting algorithms on the drones, which were also operating as networked swarms, while they were in flight. Altogether, this highlights still-growing cooperation between the three countries on drones, autonomy, and machine learning and artificial intelligence, as part of the still very new AUKUS defense partnership.
The debt ceiling agreement negotiated between House Republican leaders and the White House would cap the defense budget topline at President Joe Biden’s $886 billion request for fiscal 2024, a 3.3 percent increase over this year. It would also cut non-defense spending to $704 billion. The compromise legislation comes after weeks of negotiations between the Biden administration and House Republicans, who demanded non-defense spending cuts and several other concessions in order to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a U.S. default.
Retired Lt. Gen. David A Deptula, one of the first people to advocate the transfer of the F-16 to Ukraine, speaks about the platform: What does it bring to the table, what are the necessary conditions to fully exploit its potential, and how should Ukraine prepare for them? Interview clip begins at 10:45.
he Biden administration is working on a multi-pronged approach to speed up weapon deliveries to Taiwan, which might include bumping up their spot in the production queues, according to administration officials’ testimony this week. But some lawmakers contend that more needs to be done to break through the logjam and help the island deter or fend off a Chinese military cross-strait invasion.
On May 25, the Argentinian government received its new presidential jet, a Boeing 757-200, which landed at the Jorge Newbery Airfield (AEP). On its arrival, the pilots decided to execute a risky maneuver that has received criticism worldwide, as they made a low pass above the runway.