Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne told lawmakers last week that he believes the service needs to set up “another special program office” right next to the National Reconnaissance Office’s Chantilly, Va., headquarters so the Air Force and NRO can “share a career together.” The first order of business is for the Air Force, said Wynne, is to “restore the intellectual basis” by becoming “competent suppliers in the game.” He noted that the Air Force leadership planned to meet with NRO Director Don Kerr, DOD intelligence guru Stephen Cambone, and others to talk about how to “partner closer and reduce redundancies” in space launch, space operations, space oversight, space situational awareness, and other areas. That session was to take place March 3 in Colorado on the occasion of the retirement of the commander of Air Force Space Command, Gen. Lance Lord.
The U.S. strike on Iran's nuclear development facilities saw the first use of the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a weapon specifically designed for such a mission more than 20 years ago. The Air Force B-2s were the only platform with the stealth and carrying capacity needed to haul the huge…