Lawmaker: Trump Administration Mulling Leaving Open Skies Treaty
Spangdahlem F-16 Pilot Safe After Crash
Dedrone to Offer Consulting, Acquires Technology from Battelle
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RADAR SWEEP
Islamic State Will Benefit from US Withdrawal, Says Retired 3-Star Who Helped Train Syrian Rebels
Michael Nagata says the move will embolden the Islamic State, Russia, and Iran—and could end the extraction of intelligence from thousands of IS fighters held by Syrian rebels. Defense One
Major Al-Qaida Leader Killed in Joint US-Afghan Raid
Afghanistan’s intelligence agency says a September joint Afghan-U.S. raid in Musa Qala district of Helmand province, Afghanistan, bagged a major al-Qaida leader. The National Directorate of Security—the main intelligence arm of Afghanistan—tweeted Oct. 8 that a joint U.S.-Afghan raid on Sept. 23 killed Asim Omar, the leader of al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent, or AQIS. Military Times
OPINION: Six Competing Visions for a Space Force
“The manner in which a space force is organized will entrench certain visions of the future over others,” writes Russell Rumbaugh, a system director for the Center for Space and Strategy at The Aerospace Corporation. “As I discuss in a recent report, much of the current upheaval stems from the jousting of six different schools of thought capturing different visions of what future wars will look like and the role of space in those wars.” War on the Rocks
420th Flight Test Squadron Reactivated to Support B-21 Raider Testing at Edwards
The 420th Flight Test Squadron was reactivated following an assumption of command ceremony at Edwards AFB, Calif., on Oct. 4. The squadron will plan, test, analyze, and report on all flight and ground testing of the B-21 Raider. USAF release
Feds Could Ban Passengers on Vintage Aircraft Flights Following Deadly B-17 Crash
Federal investigators will take a hard look at the possibility of restricting or banning rides for the public aboard World War II-era aircraft following the fiery crash of a restored B-17 "Flying Fortress" bomber in Connecticut on Oct. 2 that killed seven and injured eight. Military.com
Army, Air Force, Arctic Anvil 2019
Reserve Citizen Airmen from the 815th Airlift Squadron, aka ‘Flying Jennies,’ with the 327th AS, provided airlift and airdrop support for the Army’s Joint Forces Exercise Arctic Anvil, Oct. 1-6. Arctic Anvil is a joint, multi-national, force-on-force culminating training exercise that is being held at Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center, Miss., throughout the month of October. USAF release
Can AI Automate Damage Assessments After a Disaster
What if artificial intelligence and machine learning could automate and accelerate damage assessments taken from satellite imagery in the aftermath of a natural disaster? That’s the question the Defense Innovation Unit is asking experts with its xView2 Challenge. C4ISRNET
One More Thing …
Boeing Taking $20 Million Stake in Virgin Galactic, with a Vision of Commercial Hypersonic Travel
Boeing’s venture arm HorizonX announced on Oct. 8 it will invest $20 million in Sir Richard Branson’s space tourism company Virgin Galactic to help develop the technologies needed to make hypersonic air travel possible one day. The investment from the aerospace giant comes as Virgin Galactic prepares to become the first human spaceflight company to go public. CNBC