A new experiment integrating commercial satellites with military networks for tactical and strategic communications is one of U.S. Northern Command chief Gen. Glen D. VanHerck’s priorities. The experiment should be concluded within the year, he said during a press briefing. Speaking from Alaska with Pentagon ...
The Pentagon’s newly installed acquisition czar is planning “deep dives” into efforts to modernize each leg of the nuclear triad, starting with the program he views as having the most significant risk—the Air Force's LGM-35A Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile, known until recently as the Ground ...
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 ...
China’s efforts to develop and field hypersonic weapons has been “tenfold” that of the U.S.’s own push, but the Pentagon will likely increase funding for testing, development, and threat warning in that area in the forthcoming 2023 budget, the commander of U.S. Northern Command told ...
President Joe Biden will nominate former Air Force acquisitions chief William LaPlante to serve as the Defense Department's undersecretary for acquisition, one of the remaining vacancies at the Pentagon. LaPlante, who served in the Obama administration as assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, ...
U.S. Strategic Command is struggling to find a deterrence model that will work for three comparably armed nuclear powers, but it is not seeking to match Russia’s new kinds of nuclear weapons, which aren't covered under existing treaties, said Deputy Commander Lt. Gen. Thomas A. ...
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 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 ...
B-52s deployed to Morón Air Base, Spain, on May 17 for a bomber task force deployment, making Europe the third area of operations where Stratofortresses are operating. The bomber task force of B-52s from the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, will ...
If strategic deterrence fails, nothing else will work as intended, said U.S. Strategic Command boss Adm. Charles “Chas” A. Richard during a virtual Brookings Institution event on May 7. “Every operational plan in the Department of Defense, and every other capability we have in DOD, ...
An unarmed Minuteman III test launch was aborted May 5 when the missile’s computer detected a fault during its terminal countdown and stopped the launch process, Air Force Global Strike Command said in a statement. The Air Force regularly tests its ICBM fleet with launches ...