Air Force and Space Force leaders are thinking long and hard about the need to better defend U.S. forward-deployed forces and allies in a world awash in cruise and ballistic missiles, armed drones, and potential adversaries increasingly emboldened to use them, they said March 7 ...
Under Col. Robert Smoker, Task Force 99’s new commander, the unit will continue to try to cut through red tape and field new systems quickly. “We're weird,“ he said. “Everybody has their job to do and they do it.”
The Air Force's Task Force 99, a showcase CENTCOM unit devoted to innovation, conducted a successful operational test of small drones that could be used for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.
Lt. Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich, commander of Air Forces Central, supports the Pentagon’s broad shift in focus toward countering China, but sees a role for his command to help reassure regional allies and enhance the U.S. military capabilities in the region, he said Feb. 13.
The recently-concluded Juniper Oak, an “all domain” exercise carried out from Jan. 23-26, was the “largest U.S.-Israel partnered exercise in history,” according to U.S. Central Command. The exercise was intended to demonstrate that the U.S. can rapidly deploy massive firepower to the region even as ...
Three drones attacked a U.S. base in southeastern Syria on Jan. 20, the latest in a series of threats to the strategically positioned outpost, U.S. Central Command said. Two of the drones were shot down by the Coyote air defense system, according to a U.S. ...
Air Force Chief of Staff Charles Q. Brown Jr. took a tour of the Middle East in early January, engaging with U.S. allies and visiting service members in the region, the Air Force announced. Brown and Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne S. ...
U.S. Central Command is making progress tying together air, missile, and drone defenses—but there’s still more to be done to achieve “single-pane-of-glass” integration, officials say. Fully integrating sensors and defenses will demand further innovations, both in integrating new technologies and repurposing existing ones, said CENTCOM Deputy ...
A small Air Force team at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar is working on solutions to mitigate one of U.S. Central Command’s primary issues: doing more with less. As part of a broader push in CENTCOM towards what leaders call “a culture of innovation,” ...
U.S. military leaders have been clear; They want to field new technologies faster and adapt available commercial technology to better equip the future force. Now, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) is set to play a key role in that effort as part of a top-down push ...
The Space Force activated its Middle East component on Dec. 2 as the service moves to secure more responsibility with U.S. worldwide combatant commands. In the latest stand-up, U.S. Space Forces-Central (SPACECENT) was activated in a ceremony at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., with Space ...
The Department of Defense's senior policy official laid out the Biden administration’s security strategy for the Middle East. In a speech in Bahrain, Colin Kahl, undersecretary of defense for policy, said the U.S. is still committed to the region despite a shift in its security focus ...