The air chiefs of 13 countries, meeting in Amman, Jordan, recently for the fifth Middle East Air Symposium, talked about the challenges that the region is facing and the unconventional uses of air forces in recent operations. Hosted by Jordan’s King Abdullah II, the countries of Australia, Bahrain, Egypt, France, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Britain, and the US all sent representatives. Among the hot topics was the use of airpower in non-traditional intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance roles. USAF Maj. Gen. Allen Peck, the deputy Combined Forces Air Component Commander for US Central Command, explained it this way: “NTISR is a marriage of convenience and necessity.”
NASA, SpaceX, and United Launch Alliance are all preparing to launch their next-gen rockets from Florida’s Space Coast, two of them before the year is out. One is expected to liberate the U.S. launch enterprise from its reliance on Russian-made RD-180 engines, while all three rockets could eventually carry astronaut crews.