Due to resource constraints caused by budget sequestration, Air Force Space Command is preparing to discontinue operations of the Air Force Space Surveillance System by Oct. 1, a move that would save $14 million per year, announced the command on Monday. A final decision on this action is expected in the next few weeks, according to the command’s Aug. 12 release. By discontinuing operations, the command would not maintain the system in operational status, but would not remove equipment until determining final disposition, states the release. AFSSS has been operational since 1961 as part of Air Force’s broader space surveillance network. The system comprises a series of three radar transmitters and six receivers along the 33rd parallel stretching across the southern United States. To account for the loss of AFSSS coverage, the command said it has “devised modified operating modes” for surveillance radars at Cavalier AFS, N.D., and Eglin AFB, Fla. The Air Force wants to replace AFSSS—often referred to as the “space fence”—with the new Space Fence system, but has been waiting on the Pentagon’s acquisition leadership to decide whether there’s the money, when weighing other acquisition priorities, to procure it.
KC-46’s Refueling Boom Damaged While Refueling F-22s
July 8, 2025
A U.S. Air Force KC-46 tanker suffered damage to its boom while refueling F-22 Raptors off the coast of Virginia on July 8, Air & Space Forces Magazine has confirmed, with reported radio communication from the crew indicating the boom “detached.”