On a r
ecent trip to China, Gen. Paul Hester asked a large unit commander how China would integrate that nation’s anti-satellite capability into its war plans. The Chinese commander politely sidestepped the question, but admitted to Hester that he had only learned about the ASAT test from Western media. He also privately told Hester that China’s space and air assets are not integrated, and that he hoped China would pattern a new organization like Air Force Space Command to bring them together. It was “an enriching discussion,” Hester said during AFA’s Air & Space Conference in Washington.
The Air Force has finished modifying and testing the new VC-25B Bridge aircraft that will serve as a temporary Air Force One, the service announced May 1. All that’s left now is to finish painting the jet before it starts flying this summer.