Retired Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, dean of the Air Force Association’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, moderates a panel discussion with Gen. Anthony J. Cotton, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command; and Lt. Gen. Thomas A. Bussiere, deputy commander of U.S. Strategic Command, ...
Modernizing the nuclear triad and its accompanying systems isn't just necessary for the U.S. to deter adversaries—nuclear modernization is the “absolute minimum” that has to be done, the head of U.S. Strategic Command told a Senate panel. Adm. Charles "Chas" A. Richard has been sounding ...
Adm. Christopher W. Grady, nominee to be vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Senators during his Dec. 8 confirmation hearing that the Pentagon needs to be prepared to deal with “two nuclear peer competitors," calling China’s rapid growth of its nuclear capabilities ...
A complete change in leadership is coming for one of the most important committees in the Senate, a change that could have trickle-down effects for the defense subcommittee that wields major influence over the Pentagon’s budget. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) announced Nov. 15 that he ...
China is “acquiring a first-strike capability” with its nuclear forces, and the Department of the Air Force does not have “a moment to lose” in modernizing its conventional and nuclear capabilities, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said in his keynote address at AFA’s Air, Space ...
A vast majority of voters believe nuclear deterrence should be one of the highest priorities for the Department of Defense, with a majority also supporting modernization efforts, according to a new survey. The survey, commissioned by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies and run by ...
Air Force Global Strike Command launched an unarmed intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., in the early morning hours of Aug. 11, sending the ICBM some 4,200 miles before detonating it with non-nuclear explosives near the Marshall Islands in the Pacific, AFGSC ...
A visit to China as a one-star solidified 20th Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Michael J. Lutton’s belief that waiting to modernize America’s nuclear arsenal won’t work. That’s because, in his view, the Chinese see treaties as a sign of weakness, Lutton said during a ...
The Air Force has awarded a $2 billion contract to Raytheon Missiles and Defense to engineer and develop the Long Range Standoff weapon system, the service’s next-generation air-launched nuclear missile. The deal, announced July 1, is for the engineering and manufacturing development phase and is ...
The Pentagon’s $715 billion budget request aims to increase research and development, with a key focus on what is needed in the Indo-Pacific, and it will chop old aircraft to do it. The Biden administration’s first budget request, released May 28, includes the biggest total ...
Frank Kendall III will testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee on May 25 during his confirmation hearing to be the 26th Secretary of the Air Force. Kendall would succeed Barbara M. Barrett as the head of the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force, ...
The Air Force should pause its major recapitalization of its intercontinental ballistic missile fleet—a move top military officials strongly oppose—as budgets tighten and other nuclear modernization efforts proceed, a key lawmaker said May 17. Rep. John Garamendi (D-California), the chairman of the House Armed Services ...