Maj. Gen. William Shelton, commander of Air Force Space Command’s 14th Air Force—provider of space assets to combatant commanders—reminded attendees Friday at AFA’s Los Angeles Space Symposium that US national security is “critically dependent on space.” Shelton said US enemies already have compromised our security in all four domains: air, land, space, and cyberspace. To defeat these security breaches, he said the US must start ensuring space situational awareness. And, according to Shelton, “We are going to spend quite a bit of money” to do so.
The Air Force’s nascent KC-Z program, aimed at developing a next-generation family of systems for aerial refueling, will look to launch its analysis-of-alternatives study in 2024, years earlier than originally planned. Originally, the analysis of alternatives for KC-Z was set for “maybe in the 2030s,” Paul Waugh, program executive officer…