The Air Force’s RC-135 Rivet Joint force now can claim to have been continuously deployed for 6,000 days. Last fall, we noted that one of the airmen who maintain this high demand/low density electronic reconnaissance aircraft has deployed 18 times to Southwest Asia since 1993. Over the years, the Air Force has upgraded the Rivet Joint, giving the 1960s-vintage platform new engines, updated cockpit avionics, and improved mission equipment, which enables the Cold War warrior to switch from strategic to tactical support—talking with warfighters on the ground—on a single sortie.
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
