Air Force Research Lab’s Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland AFB, N.M., has produced the tactical satellite-2 within 24 months, a feat that previously would have taken 10 years or so, according to a directorate release. TacSat-2 is the progenitor for USAF’s responsive spacecraft effort, aiming to design, construct, test, and deliver a mission-ready satellite within 15 months and launch it at a week’s notice. TacSat-2, now slated to launch in December, has received much “high-level” interest within DOD and Congress, says program manager Neal Peck. He believes that spacecraft like TacSat-2—low in cost and with shorter life spans than current platforms—will not “become [technology] obsolete and the federal government will save a lot of money.”
A new Navy missile could fill a long-range air-to-air need for the U.S. Air Force’s fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-generation fighters. The Navy’s portfolio acquisition executive for munitions posted information on the AIM-424 Long Range Air-to-Air Missile online on Aug. 22, the same day it unveiled the project at the service’s…