The Defense Department's Space Development Agency wants to blanket Earth with a constellation of low-cost, open-architecture data-relay and missile-tracking satellites whose sheer numbers, along with their 1,000-kilometer-high orbits, would theoretically thwart some modes of interference—but not all. With all going according to plan so far, ...
The Space Force’s new Space Systems Command will oversee the new service’s acquisition and launch services under one command, with the soon-to-be-former Space and Missile Systems Center serving as its headquarters. Space Systems Command, one of three commands within the Space Force, will officially stand ...
The Air Force demonstrated the successful launch of a drone by a larger remotely piloted aircraft on March 26, with the XQ-58A Valkyrie releasing a small UAS from its own internal weapons bay. The flight test, the sixth for the Valkyrie, marked the first time ...
Watch the "Science, Technology & Innovation In Every Domain" session from AFA’s 2021 virtual Aerospace Warfare Symposium.
Having successfully used “digital twinning” to design and prototype its latest jet trainer aircraft, the Air Force is moving to use the new technology to develop and test weapons, too—building an online Colosseum in which vendors’ systems can virtually fight each other. Col. Garry A. ...
The Air Force Research Laboratory on March 16 broke ground on a 3,500-square-foot facility located on 72 acres at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., that will allow the Space Vehicles Directorate to test sensor systems before sending them to the field. The Skywave Technology Laboratory ...
Air Force Gaming is launching a global intramural esports league where Airman and Guardians play against each other and wrap up the season with a March Madness-style tournament. The 24/7 resiliency- and retention-focused gaming organization has exploded in popularity, with 14,000 Airmen and Guardians playing ...
The Air Force canceled its Pacific-based Advanced Battle Management System on-ramp later this year after it already cut back the scope of its most recent event in Europe because of Congressionally mandated budget cuts. Congress, in the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill, questioned the need ...
The Air Force’s “Golden Horde” weapon swarming project overcame its earlier technical difficulties in a second flight test last month, the service said March 5. The Feb. 19 event featured four Small Diameter Bombs equipped with systems that let them work as a team, two ...
Last week, NASA’s Perseverance rover thrilled citizens of Earth when it landed on Mars with the promise of a new chapter in red planet exploration. But the military could also learn a thing or two from the spacecraft’s trip for future research and development efforts, ...
The Air Force Association’s virtual Aerospace Warfare Symposium kicks off Feb. 24, opening three days of non-stop activity featuring 40 panels and presentations and the top leaders from the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force.
Fighter pilots can’t yet fire lasers on their real jets, but a new wargame series will let them try it out in cyberspace. Armed with computers and virtual reality headsets, F-16 pilots, F-15E weapon system officers, and an E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System air ...