In a joint letter to airmen Sept. 16, Acting Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz commented on the service’s new mission statement, which still includes cyberspace as a mission domain, saying they plan to convene top leaders “several times over the coming months” to “quickly come to closure on near-term issues,” among them the fate of the proposed new Cyber Command. The letter also outlined their five “broad priorities” for the Air Force: reinvigorate the Air Force nuclear enterprise; partner with the Joint and Coalition team to win today’s fight; develop and care for airmen and their families; modernize our aging air and space inventories; and acquisition excellence.
Unmanned aerial vehicles and autonomous aircraft may provide a solution to operating in heavily contested domains such as the Taiwan Straits, according to a panel of expert who suggested operationalizing artificial intelligence for such purposes sooner rather than later. The group gathered virtually to help launch the Mitchell Institute for…