Editor’s Note

The Daily Report will not publish Monday, Oct. 9, in observance of the Columbus Day holiday. We will back in your inboxes Tuesday, Oct. 10.

F-16 Downs Turkish Drone Over Syria After It Comes Within Half Kilometer of US Troops

By Chris Gordon
A U.S. Air Force F-16 shot down a Turkish government drone on Oct. 5 after it flew within half a kilometer of U.S. forces in Syria. The incident was an extremely rare military engagement between two NATO members, who were already at odds over a range of security issues. “We did communicate with Turkey our inherent right to self defense in the face of a potential threat,” Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder said. “Commanders on the ground did assess that there was a potential threat and so they took prudent action.”

Watch and Read: How to See Every Video and Transcript from AFA September 2023

By Patrick Reardon
Thousands of Airmen, Guardians, industry leaders, civilians, and more gathered in National Harbor, Md., from Sept. 11-13 for AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference. Over the course of three days, 50 keynote speeches and panel discussions took place, covering everything from military families to electronic warfare to the new B-21 Raider bomber. Now, the video and text from every one of those sessions is available.

Radar Sweep

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Pentagon Developing AI to Aid Indo-Pacific and Other Commands

Bloomberg

The Defense Department is speeding its development of artificial intelligence tools for the commander of U.S. forces in the Indo-Pacific, according to a senior Defense official. AI can assist Adm. John Aquilino, who is focused on the threat from China, with some of the problems “he is most worried about,” Deputy Defense secretary Kathleen Hicks said in an interview.

Senators Want Answers on Housing for Disabled Military Family Members

Military Times

Two senators are pressing defense officials on continued concerns about housing for military families with disability-related needs. They want to know, for example, how many military families have had to pay out of pocket for changes to their on-base housing—such as drop-down rails or ramps—in the past 10 years, and how many families have had to pay to undo the changes when they moved out of their homes.

Space Force Sticks to Plan for 3 High-Value Launch Providers Through 2028

Breaking Defense

The Space Force’s final solicitations to industry for its future billion-dollar National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 program formalizes the service’s plans to choose three launch firms to loft its most important payloads to orbit, while also expanding the universe of small launch providers for other types of missions.

SDA Director Blasts Critics Inside DOD Bureaucracy Who Don’t Like His ‘Bad Cop’ Attitude

DefenseScoop

In a scathing new message, Space Development Agency Director Derek Tournear doubled down on his approach to rapidly delivering space capabilities for the U.S. military, suggesting he won’t heed critics who don’t like the way he goes about his business. Tournear wrote in a post published on LinkedIn on Oct. 5 that he was recently told to no longer act as the “bad cop” for SDA or else he would hurt relationships with colleagues.

Majority of Retired 4-Star Officers Got Jobs in Defense Industry, New Report Says

Military.com

More than 80 percent of the highest-ranking military officers who left the service over the past five years moved into jobs working for the defense industry, according to a new think tank report. Twenty-six of the 32 four-star officers who retired after June 2018 were then employed by “the arms industry as board members, advisors, executives, consultants, lobbyists, or members of financial institutions that invest in the defense sector,” according to the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a defense-focused think tank that advocates for peace and diplomacy.

XQ-58 Valkyrie Is Now Flying with the Marine Corps

The War Zone

The U.S. Marine Corps has begun flying its stealthy Kratos' XQ-58A Valkyrie drones, making it the second known operator of the type beyond the U.S. Air Force. The Marines now plan to evaluate the drones as highly autonomous surveillance and reconnaissance assets, electronic warfare platforms, and wingmen for crewed fighters, including in kinetic roles.

LMI Gets $98 Million Contract for Space Wargaming Software

SpaceNews

The U.S. Air Force awarded the Logistics Management Institute, known as LMI, a $98 million contract for modeling and simulation software to analyze warfighting missions in space. LMI, a consulting firm in Tysons, Va., said in a news release Oct. 5 the contract is a Small Business Innovation Research Phase 3 agreement.

One More Thing

Air Force Flight Instructor Made Splint out of Sticks to Rescue Hiker on Yosemite’s Half Dome

Los Angeles Times

With cold wind and hail whipping up near the summit of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, U.S. Air Force flight instructor Joshua Haveman could tell that the other hikers trying to reach the 8,800-foot peak were struggling, especially on the last several hundred feet to the top. That’s when someone screamed, and Haveman watched as a hiker slid about 80 feet and landed on a thin rock ledge, narrowly avoiding a fall farther down the mountain.