Air
Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz said last week that, although the combat search and rescue replacement vehicle program was canceled, “we didn’t cancel a mission.” Speaking at a National Aeronautic Association-sponsored event April 16 in Washington, D.C., Schwartz said, “there is no doubt in my mind—none—about the need for a vertical-lift capability which can bring Americans and our friends home from denied space.” But, how this will be accomplished, whether jointly, or by each service independently, is a matter for discussion in upcoming defense reviews, he said. Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Robert Gates axed the CSAR-X program, saying it was shaping up misguidedly as a single-service platform for a joint mission. (See below, “Roles and Mission Shift?”)
After months of debate and sometimes public tension, the Space Force and Intelligence Community are making progress on establishing ways to work together, officials said this week—to the point where one predicted there will soon be “a sharing of data like we've never seen before.”