DARPA XS-1 Spaceplane Award Coming Soon

By John A. Tirpak
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency expects to award a contract for the XS-1 spaceplane program “soon,” according to an agency spokesman. Rick Weiss said DARPA is in the final stages of a “downselect” to choose one company to proceed...

Holloman Surge Tests MQ-9 Limits

The 49th Wing at Holloman AFB, N.M., recently completed an MQ-9 surge designed to test the limits of the volume and speed of possible operations. The wing completed 45 Reaper sorties totaling more than 465 flight hours within five days....

Travis C-17 Flies Navy Dolphins Across the Country

A C-17 and airmen from the 301st Airlift Squadron at Travis AFB, Calif., recently flew four unusual passengers across the country—four highly trained bottlenose dolphins. On April 29, the C-17 took off from NAS Key West, Fla., to the US...

US May Deploy Patriot Missile Battery to Lithuania

The US may send a Patriot missile battery to Lithuania later this year during a military exercise, a move to show US support for Baltic nations on the edge about Russian threats. US Defense Secretary James Mattis, during a joint...

New DOD Policy Impacts AF Academy Athletes

Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis recently released a memo reversing a 2016 Department of Defense policy allowing military service academy athletes to go pro without fulfilling their service commitment. The memo states that academy graduates have “received the extraordinary benefits”...