Air Force Reserve Command boss Lt. Gen. Charles Stenner confirmed at a Heritage Foundation presentation Thursday in Washington, D.C., that Reserve end strength is headed back up—and will reach an end strength of around 73,000 by 2013. Like the active duty Air Force, the Reserves began shedding personnel, reaching 67,400 before mission needs halted the drawdown. The first installment will be between 1,800 to 2,200 personnel in the Fiscal 2010 budget for in-demand missions such as unmanned aerial vehicles, cyber warfare, intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance analysis, and the nuclear enterprise. (AFRC already has become USAF’s nuclear-capable B-52H formal training unit). Explaining the new billets, Stenner said, “They’re not rebates to what we took out; they’re new missions.” Continue
USAF Scoping Out Upgrades to Counter-UAS Weapons
Oct. 19, 2020
The Air Force is in the market for upgrades to its counter-drone technologies, according to an Oct. 16 request for information posted on a federal contracting website. The service is in the early stages of deploying lasers, microwaves, and other weapons more advanced than a shotgun to deal with potentially…