DOD’s latest selected acquisition report (SAR) for Congress says the Air Force’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program is running seven months late, moving full rate production approval from May to December. The culprit, per the Pentagon, is the time it took to investigate the anomaly that occurred during the Delta IV demo mission last December. An independent review found the root cause of the anomaly to be fluid cavitation—bubbles—in the oxygen feed line.
Golden Dome Details Begin to Emerge
Dec. 7, 2025
The Golden Dome air and missile defense shield to protect the United States will have some “operational capability” in 2028, the program’s leader said Dec. 6 at the Reagan National Defense Forum.

