As the conflict between Israel and Hamas rages, U.S. military and government officials were quick to condemn the surprise attack, but on Oct. 10 were keeping American military might focused on deterrence, intelligence and hostage efforts. The possibility of direct American military involvement appeared unlikely, as the world rallied around Israel and condemned the bloody terrorist attack by Hamas over the weekend that sparked the war. There are no plans to put "boots on the ground," the State Department said in a press conference Oct. 10.
Israeli warplanes hammered the Gaza Strip neighborhood by neighborhood Oct. 10, reducing buildings to rubble and sending people scrambling to find safety in the tiny, sealed-off territory now suffering severe retaliation for the deadly weekend attack by Hamas militants. Humanitarian groups pleaded for the creation of corridors to get aid into Gaza and warned that hospitals overwhelmed with wounded people were running out of supplies. Israel has stopped entry of food, fuel and medicines into Gaza, and the sole remaining access from Egypt shut down Oct. 10 after airstrikes hit near the border crossing.
With about 66,000 students—more than the public school enrollment in Boston or Seattle—the Pentagon’s schools for children of military members and civilian employees quietly achieve results most educators can only dream of.
The Defense Department is bracing for potential budget cuts of about $90 billion to fiscal year 2024 and 2025 plans—painful reductions likely to squeeze weapons system modernization accounts—in the event congressional dysfunction extends into January triggering a statutory sequester provision of the June law enacted to raise the debt ceiling.
Vector Atomic, a California-based startup, worked with Honeywell Aerospace to produce a cutting-edge navigation sensor that uses an atomic clock to take precise measurements without relying on GPS. The atomic sensor, funded by the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit, was delivered in August and is awaiting a ride to space, Vector Atomic’s CEO Jamil Abo-Shaeer, told SpaceNews.
Using its somewhat stealthy MQ-20 Avenger, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) has begun flight demonstrations of a system it’s developed that will allow small drones to be launched and recovered in mid-air from larger uncrewed aerial vehicles. It's part of a broader vision for how these kinds of aircraft might be employed in future conflicts.
The Defense Department has been ordered to pay $1.8 million in legal fees as settlement for two lawsuits that challenged its requirement that all U.S. troops be vaccinated against COVID-19. A Florida U.S. District Court judge awarded the money last week to the firm representing the plaintiffs, Liberty Counsel. The cases, one involving several Navy SEALs, were filed by a total of 48 service members—the majority of whom were officers—representing all branches of the armed forces and components.
In Episode 149 of the Aerospace Advantage podcast, Doug Birkey chats with retired Lt. Gen. Dave Deptula, spacepower expert Charles Galbreath, plus Washington insiders Anthony Lazarski and Todd Harmer about the latest developments in the beltway and the broader national security community.
The Army has tapped Sierra Nevada Corp. to conduct intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions—an effort that will be key in informing the service’s broader high-altitude ISR modernization projects. SNC received the award for the second phase of the Army Theater-Level High-Altitude Expeditionary Next Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (Athena-S) on Sept. 28, acting program executive officer for Army Aviation Rodney Davis told reporters Oct. 10 during a roundtable at the annual AUSA conference.
The U.S. and Western allies have increased their training of Ukrainian officers and noncommissioned officers, at Ukraine’s request, and may begin training the trainers as well, military officers involved in the effort said Oct. 10. Ukrainian military leaders’ “priority for the last eight months has been leadership training,” said Canadian Brigadier-General Mason Stalker, the deputy commanding general for Security Assistance Group Ukraine, the group responsible for coordinating international military aid to the country. Now, Stalker said, leaders have asked western countries to train the trainers.
The National Reconnaissance Office’s plan to “quadruple” the size of its satellite fleet over the next decade will allow it to deliver “10 times as many signals and images” as it is today, according to the spy agency’s deputy director. “NRO is already building the largest and most capable, diverse, and resilient overhead constellation in our history. We’re also putting new capabilities on orbit, on ground and everywhere in between,” Space Force Maj. Gen. Christopher Povak told the Mitchell Institute on Oct. 10.
The Department of the Air Force plans to expand oversight and add new training in a push to strengthen its domestic-violence prevention efforts, following a monthslong review of its support services for abuse survivors. The Sept. 29 announcement, set to coincide with Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October, is the Air Force’s latest attempt to reform how reports of abuse are handled in a system that critics say has much to do to adequately address the problem.
It's pretty hard to get a bad picture of the F-22 Raptor, but getting a really, really good one is far harder. These jets are photographed at air shows throughout the year by the best aviation photographers on the planet, and they are anything but camera-shy when it comes to their global real-world operations. Yet one photographer attending the Pacific Air Show in Huntington Beach, Calif., recently took perhaps the best air show image of an F-22 we have seen, or at least one of the best.