In searching for the right aircraft to replace its fleet of HH-60 Pave Hawk combat search and rescue helicopters, the Air Force discounted platforms offering the most advanced technology in favor of one that “doesn’t hold us hostage” to technology that hasn’t matured and that would take longer to deliver, declared Sue Payton, Air Force acquisition chief. There was no intent to find “the most elegant, grand solution,” she explained to reporters at the CSAR-X award announcement. Instead, she added, the Air Force sought what would “vastly improve what we have today in the HH-60 helicopters, but we have some growth potential in the future.”
US Space Command Should Always Be Led by a Guardian
Sept. 12, 2026
General Stephen Whiting took command of U.S. Space Command in January 2024, and if customary three-year tenures hold, his tour would end in January 2027. The question now before the President and Senate is who should follow him? Whoever they choose, it has to be a Guardian—and so should every successor…
