The Air Force is spearheading development of the Defense Department’s first hypersonic cruise missile. The service on April 27 reached out to industry to seek input on a “solid rocket-boosted, air-breathing, hypersonic, conventional cruise missile” that can be launched from existing fighters and bombers. Air ...
The Defense Department’s coronavirus response is giving the fledgling Space Force a chance to show its skills and shaping how Airmen manage military satellite communications along the way. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said March 17 the Pentagon had given the Navy orders to start preparing ...
The Air Force will kick off its effort to encourage the development of flying cars with a virtual launch event featuring product presentations and government briefings from April 27 to May 1. Known as “Agility Prime,” the initiative aims to support private companies that are ...
Virgin Orbit subsidiary VOX Space will launch dozens of small satellites into space for the Space Force’s Orbital Services Program-4, under a $35 million contract announced April 10. For OSP-4’s first round of launches, dubbed Space Test Program-S28, VOX Space will deliver 44 satellites to ...
The Air Force Research Laboratory announced April 6 it has kicked off its overseas demonstration of directed-energy weapons dispatched to take down threatening unmanned aircraft. While the demo has long been in the works, AFRL revealed that its Tactical High-Power Operational Responder (THOR) system will ...
Aeromedical flight crews are training at Joint Base Charleston, S.C., on an older isolation system for transporting highly infectious patients by air, even as the Air Force rapidly develops and tests a newer and more elaborate system for the mission. Testing on the C-17 is ...
In a first for Spark Tank, the Air Force’s Airman-powered innovation competition, two teams were named co-champions. The winning ideas that bested over 200 other submissions—six of which were live-pitched onstage at the Air Force Association’s 2020 Air Warfare Symposium here on Feb. 28—look to ...
When the Air Force Research Laboratory’s experimentation office was chartered in 2016, the idea of ‘try before you buy’ hadn’t picked up much speed. Nearly four years later, the office is using momentum and top cover from leadership to institutionalize experiments as regular practice in ...
An Air Force-affiliated technology accelerator on Jan. 24 named the startups chosen to participate in 2020, its third group since 2018. The “Air Force Accelerator Powered by Techstars” program picks small businesses that offer products that can benefit troops as well as a broad swath ...
The XQ-58A Valkyrie drone finished its fourth flight test in Arizona on Jan. 23, coming back from a mishap that occurred during its previous test in the fall. Valkyrie, an Air Force Research Laboratory program with manufacturer Kratos Defense, is being designed as a possible ...
Air Force Research Laboratory Commander Maj. Gen. William Cooley was fired from his post Jan. 15 as USAF investigators look into allegations of misconduct. Air Force Materiel Command boss Gen. Arnold Bunch removed Cooley from his job “due to a loss of confidence in his ...
SpaceX on Jan. 6 sent 60 Starlink broadband Internet satellites into orbit from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., marking the Space Force’s first launch since the service was created in December. This is the third batch of Starlink satellites sent into space so far, totaling 180 ...