The secretive Space Rapid Capabilities Office’s workload has taken shape two years after its inception, as the space research and development enterprise changes around it. The Space RCO, which speedily develops cutting-edge technologies at the request of Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. John ...
The new commander of the storied Air Force Research Laboratory will realign—not reorganize—the lab so it can ably support both the new U.S. Space Force and its traditional Air Force customers. "We’ll be one AFRL serving two services: The Air Force and the Space Force,” ...
A promising experimental Air Force satellite is one step closer to being ready to launch. The Air Force Research Laboratory on July 30 said the service’s Navigation Technology Satellite-3 passed a critical design milestone in June that lets the contractor, L3Harris Technologies, start to build ...
Air Force officials are still looking to perfect directed-energy weapons to use against the low-tech threat of small drones before scaling up lasers and microwaves to take out cruise missiles. The Air Force’s high-power microwave weapon known as the Tactical High-Power Microwave Operational Responder, or ...
The Air Force Research Laboratory welcomed Brig. Gen. Heather Pringle as its new commander on June 18, marking its third leadership change in six months. Pringle follows Brig. Gen. Evan Dertien, who has served as the lab’s top officer since January. He replaced Maj. Gen. ...
The Air Force is looking to acquire a new fleet of hunter-killer drones to replace the MQ-9 Reaper circa 2031, according to a solicitation issued June 3. The new aircraft needs to be stealthy and autonomous, the better to survive and function in well-defended airspace, ...
Air Force researchers are designing an autonomous aircraft that can take down a manned plane in air-to-air combat, with the goal of pitting the two against each other in July 2021. Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, head of the Pentagon’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, said the ...