Special-ops aviators, a physicist from the intelligence community, and an enlisted Marine with decades of deployments: U.S. Space Command’s military and civilian leaders who spoke May 7 were as likely to come from strictly space backgrounds as not. These are some of the day’s insights from inside the command, which…
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The F-35A fleet is now the second largest in the Air Force’s inventory, behind the F-16 but surpassing F-15s and A-10s. There are now 283 Joint Strike Fighters in the Air Force’s arsenal, compared to 281 A-10s, 234 F-15C/Ds, and 218 F-15Es. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q.…
Top Department of the Air Force leaders told lawmakers May 7 they need to divest aging aircraft to make room for more advanced systems, setting up a now familiar budget fight on Capitol Hill. “America cannot wait to modernize the Air Force any longer, not one year, one month, or…
If strategic deterrence fails, nothing else will work as intended, U.S. Strategic Command boss Adm. Charles “Chas” A. Richard during a virtual Brookings Institution event on May 7. “Every operational plan in the Department of Defense, and every other capability we have in DOD, rests on the assumption that strategic…
A B-52H bomber launched a simulated AGM-183 Air-launched Rapid Response hypersonic missile at a target some 600 miles away during the ongoing Northern Edge exercise in Alaska, the Air Force said. The simulated shot was a success and demonstrated Airborne Battle Management System techniques to facilitate the kill chain for…
The Defense Department has no plans to shoot down a spent Chinese Long March 5B rocket booster, which is out of control and could reach Earth's surface after re-entry, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III reported. The U.S. demonstrated an anti-satellite capability in 2008 against one of its own intelligence…
As momentum builds within the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill to remove commanders from overseeing sexual assault prosecutions, top Defense Department leaders say they are open to the change, but they want to give a commission time to finish its work before the monumental change is made. Defense Secretary Lloyd…
The U.S. military is looking at new ways to train Afghan forces and for contractors to continue to work on Afghan Air Force aircraft following the full withdrawal of American troops this year. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, during a May 6 briefing…
The first B-1B Lancers have returned to flight following a grounding more than two weeks ago to inspect issues with the aircraft’s fuel systems. Air Force Global Strike Command announced May 6 that an undisclosed number of the bombers are back to flying after the April 20 stand down order.…