Daily Report

Feb. 9, 2015

Obama Releases New Security Strategy

President Obama on Feb. 6 unveiled a broad-based security vision spanning everything from strengthening regional defense alliances to reducing carbon emission. The 2015 national security strategy “wisely calls for drawing on all the sources of our national power—including the unrivaled...

Enduring Interests, Changing World

The 2015 national security strategy released Feb. 6 is based on the same four “enduring interests” as the 2010 defense strategy—security, prosperity, values, and international order, said White House National Security Advisor Susan Rice. However, she acknowledged that “in many...

More Nations On Orbit, More Concern

Both China and Russia are actively engaged in building counter-space weapons that could target US assets, said US Strategic Command boss Adm. Cecil Haney during a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event in Washington, D.C., Feb. 6. In 2014, the...

Space Launches to be More Competitive in 2016

The Air Force will open three national security space launches to competition in Fiscal 2016 and three in Fiscal 2017. By Fiscal 2018 all 18 planned national security space launches will be open to competition, Maj. Gen. Roger Teague, director...

Northrop Dumps Hawk for Clean-Sheet T-X

Northrop Grumman has abandoned plans to offer the BAE Systems Hawk for the Air Force’s upcoming T-X contest, in favor of an all-new jet being prototyped with the company’s Scaled Composites division. The aircraft “has been purpose-designed for the Air...

Fighter Space Launch Nearing Test Flight

DARPA plans to test-fly a prototype F-15-carried rapid and affordable light weight satellite launch vehicle later this year, and potentially blast a test vehicle into orbit as early as 2016, officials announced. “We’ve made good progress so far toward [Airborne...

Sharpening Space Operations, Doctrine

US Strategic Command held its first Joint Space Doctrine and Tactics Forum last week to work out new concepts and tactics that address orbital threats and challenges, STRATCOM boss Adm. Cecil Haney said Feb. 6 during a Mitchell Institute for...

Hedge-Hopping Neighbors

UH-1N helicopter pilots at Yokota AB, Japan, recently hosted their Japanese Ground Self Defense Force counterparts on a fly-along interoperability sortie. “The objective for this is to help introduce [the JGSDF] to our procedures and how we fly our helicopters...