Reinforced Ukrainian defenders in a key location on the front have halted what had been relentless Russian advances in eastern Ukraine, according to soldiers and battlefield maps. But Russia continued to advance elsewhere, and pressed on Sept. 7 with long-range bombardment of more distant cities.
Iran has sent short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, according to U.S. and European officials, a move that gives Moscow another potent military tool in its war against Ukraine and follows stern Western warnings not to provide those arms to Moscow.
A handful of U.S. government agencies and allied nations have issued an advisory that a group of malicious Russian cyber attackers have conducted sabotage, espionage and “reputational harm,” against 26 NATO countries, including the U.S., with the primary goal of disrupting efforts to provide aid to Ukraine.
Two NATO members said Sept. 8 that Russian drones violated their airspace, as one reportedly flew into Romania during nighttime attacks on neighboring Ukraine while another crashed in eastern Latvia the previous day.
Pratt & Whitney’s F100 engine debuted in 1972 and continues to power F-15 and F-16 jets for the U.S. Air Force and allied militaries around the globe. Josh Goodman, who leads the F100 program at Pratt & Whitney, and Nick “JDAM” Graham, a former U.S. Air Force F-15 Weapon Systems Officer and now senior manager in the company’s F100 program office, share what the engine has achieved so far—and what comes next.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Sept. 5 launched the NROL-113 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office. The rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex-4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 11:20 p.m. Eastern. NROL-113 was the third batch of satellites of a new imaging satellite constellation built by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman. The number of satellites on this mission was not disclosed.
Three Airmen have died at Kunsan Air Base in South Korea in a span of five weeks, but Air Force officials are providing few details on the causes of death and how they're specifically addressing the string of incidents.
The Defense Department selected an Air Force program for inclusion in its second tranche of Replicator capabilities, DefenseScoop has learned. The news marks the first public report of the service’s participation in this unfolding, high-profile effort. Multiple sources who spoke to DefenseScoop on the condition of anonymity indicated that the selected drones are those under development for the Enterprise Test Vehicle (ETV) program.
Combat operations have never been a simple affair—and in a peer- or near-peer conflict, speed and complexity will ratchet up the pressure on commanders trying to decipher and control the battlespace.
China’s mysterious reusable spacecraft returned to Earth on Sept. 6 after spending 268 days in orbit. It was the spacecraft’s third successful mission, clocking a total of about 545 days.
The Department of the Air Force’s Deputy Chief Information Officer Winston Beauchamp will move into a new position where he will oversee the DAF’s most classified information, programs, and capabilities. Beauchamp has been tapped as the new director of security, special program oversight, and information protection within the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force.
After several fatal Army aircraft crashes and the arrival of a more complicated airspace in the future, the service is reviewing and updating how it trains its pilots and its warrant officers in particular. Those changes will likely include a look at the types of helicopters soldiers are training with, simulator time and effectiveness, new rotor blades, and tail rotor drive systems for the Apache and warrant officers sticking to their technical tasks for longer in the careers.
The dual role of assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy and principal cyber adviser to the defense secretary allows the person in it to act as liaison and streamlining agent, according to Michael Sulmeyer, the first Pentagon official to hold the position.
In episode 200 of the Aerospace Advantage, Heather Penney chats with members of the Mitchell Institute team about the latest defense news from the Beltway and the broader national security community. We explore what’s next for the defense bills in Congress, a debate that is playing out regarding spacepower roles and missions between the services, and the Secretary of the Air Force’s direct appeal for more Space Force funding. We also discuss why it’s such a big deal that the Air Force just accepted its first EA-37B Compass Call aircraft and whether there will be any long-term ripple effects given the F-16 loss in Ukraine.
A constellation of sparks flies inside Kilroy’s Workshop as a helmeted worker grinds one steel blade after another by hand. Those brilliant blades, which are high quality enough to be used as a chef’s knife, says workshop owner Ron Hardman, are part of an order for hundreds of Air Force Academy sabers and minisabers. After almost seven decades of being made in Germany, Kilroy’s now holds the indefinite, exclusive contract to make the sabers, making it the first time they’ve been produced in the U.S.