The Air Force has contracted with Space Data Corp. to provide a communications system that will aid battlefield communications from a balloon-borne platform in near space. Tests have shown that the system can extend ground-to-ground voice and data communications from 10 miles to more than 400 miles. The latest experiment took place this spring under a program called Combat Skysat. The contract award is $49 million.
Hundreds, or possibly thousands, of transgender service members have returned to work after two judges ordered preliminary injunctions blocking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s ban of transgender service members and recruits. But their long-term future remains uncertain.