China’s nascent identity as a nuclear-capable power and Russia’s nuclear modernization plan underscore the continued need for America’s nuclear triad, the head of Air Force Global Strike Command said Dec. 10. “There's a myth out there that nukes are less relevant,” AFGSC boss Gen. Timothy ...
Russia
As the United States closes out its participation in the 1992 Open Skies Treaty, some in government are starting to consider what might come next for the Air Force unit that has handled those foreign surveillance flights for decades. Lawmakers earlier this month released a ...
In order to more effectively compete with Russia and China on the great-power stage, the United States must change the way it perceives—and plays—the game, Air Force Global Strike Command boss Gen. Timothy M. Ray said Dec. 10. “We're in a long-term, strategic competition with ...
A B-1B bomber on Dec. 4 released a JASSM stealth missile from its Sniper targeting pod pylon. The demonstration follows a captive-carry dress rehearsal in November, and paves the way for the B-1 to carry a variety of munitions, but especially hypersonic missiles, on external ...
President-elect Joe Biden will nominate retired Army Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III to be his Defense Secretary, the transition team announced Dec. 8. Austin, who left the military in 2016 as the four-star head of U.S. Central Command, would be the first-ever Black man to ...
President Donald J. Trump nominated Adm. John C. Aquilino to lead U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, the Pentagon announced on Dec. 3. If confirmed by the Senate, Aquilino—who has led U.S. Pacific Fleet since May 2018—will replace Admiral Philip S. Davidson. Aquilino would take command of the ...
President-elect Joe Biden’s administration will have just 16 days after Inauguration Day in January to strike a deal with Russia to extend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. If they fail to agree, the last remaining pact limiting the two countries' nuclear arsenals will expire. ...
The Trump administration wanted to widen the treaty’s scope. Now what’s the plan?
The United States is now officially out of the Open Skies Treaty, but questions remain about the road ahead. “The U.S. withdrawal took effect on Nov. 22, 2020, and the United States is no longer a state party to the Treaty on Open Skies,” State ...
China and Russia have noticed an increase in USAF bomber missions in the Indo-Pacific, and they are starting to respond in their own ways, the top USAF officer in the region said. The Air Force in April stopped permanently basing bombers at Andersen Air Force ...
Although the Pentagon has contemplated designating the Electromagnetic Spectrum as a combat domain, it is no longer thinking that way, the officer in charge of developing an EMS strategy implementation plan said Nov. 12. Air Force Brig. Gen. Darrin P. Leleux said EMS is considered ...
Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper sent a “Final Message to the Department” shortly after President Donald J. Trump fired him in a tweet Nov. 9. In the letter, Esper writes that his time as leader of the Pentagon was the "honor and privilege of a ...
