Lockheed Reveals Second Low-Cost Cruise Missile ‘Truck’ and Successful Flight Tests

July 16, 2025 | By John A. Tirpak

Lockheed Martin is developing a second version of its Common Multi-Mission Truck (CMMT) system—a low-cost vehicle meant to carry a variety of payloads—and both variants have been tested successfully in recent weeks, the company said.

The larger of the two designs is the CMMT-D, an unpowered glide vehicle, and the smaller is the CMMT-X, which has a motor. The CMMT-D was dropped vertically from a pallet, as would be used from a cargo aircraft, while the new CMMT-X was pylon-launched from the bottom of a small aircraft. The “D” stands for “Demonstrator,” while the “X” indicates “it is an X-plane and experimental variant of CMMT,” a Lockheed spokesperson said.

The company rolled out CMMT-D in March at the AFA Warfare Symposium, saying it has been pursuing the concept of a low-cost cruise missile-type vehicle for some time, to complement its very stealthy, high-end AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Missile. The company said the CMMT-D has a range of about 500 nautical miles range and can be configured “to launch from fighters, bombers and ground launchers.”

The two new vehicles are aimed at a broad military requirement for low-cost standoff munitions, and Lockheed is pursuing pylon-launched, pallet-launched, and vertical launch variations. The CMMT-D is intended to have a unit cost of about $150,000—10 times less than a JASSM. Unlike the JASSM, though, the CMMT isn’t meant to be ultra-stealthy, and the company envisions building the vehicle “at scale.”

The two CMMTs appear to be sized and priced roughly in line with the Air Force’s Family of Affordable Mass Missiles (FAMM), but Lockheed is not among the competitors for that program. Anduril Technologies and Zone 5 Technologies are the competitors for FAAM, which will be launched using Rapid Dragon-type techniques. The Air Force is looking to build more than 3,000 FAAMs in 2026 alone. The Pentagon has not released out-year information in its fiscal 2026 budget request, but service officials have suggested future buys may be similar.

“Lockheed Martin engineers starting development on both models less than a year ago,” the company said in a press release. “CMMT-D is the first compact affordable cruise missile in industry to deploy from Rapid Dragon, while CMMT-X achieved powered flight in its first flight.”

The CMMT-D was tested from a Rapid Dragon-type pallet cell—the same style the Air Force has used in recent years to drop pallets of inert JASSMs from the back of a cargo aircraft like the C-17 or C-130H. In May, the pallet was suspended from a helicopter at an altitude of 14,500 feet over the Tillamook UAS Tet Range, Ore., simulating a parachute descent from a fixed-wing airlifter. The CMMT-D deployed it wings and made an unpowered glide to the surface.

This was the “first deployment of a compact air vehicle in a tactically representative airborne environment,” the company said.

From concept design to first flight was 10 months, Lockheed said, noting that it also carried out the first Rapid Dragon test from “clean start” to test in 10 months.

A month later, the new CMMT-X was mounted to a pylon under a Piper Navajo civil turboprop flying over the Pendleton UAS Range in Ore.; it safely separated from the aircraft, deployed its wings and its engine lit for powered flight. Lockheed said the CMMT-X is the direct descendant of its 2020 “SPEED RACER” concept, which began exploration of “expendable-class systems.”

The CMMT-X has a range of about 350 nautical miles, Lockheed said.

The two vehicles have been designed using digital methods to demonstrate speed from concept to fabrication, but also in potential production.

Lockheed said it took half the usual time to go from concept to preliminary design review on the CMMTs, helped by previous work on SPEED RACER and digital techniques.

While the Air Force has not yet settled on what characteristics Increment 2 of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program will have, the CMMT’s “flight-tested design and developed architecture could be quickly adapted for low-cost [CCA] applications should those requirements move forward,” Lockheed said.

Air Force Claims $10.4B in DOGE Savings, Most from Consultants and Contractors

July 16, 2025 | By Greg Hadley

The Department of the Air Force is claiming more than $10 billion in savings as part of President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative, according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Air Force Secretary Troy Meink.

The department did not provide a full breakdown of the savings, but the bulk appear to be derived from cancelling contracts or planned contract pools for consultants and cutting civilian jobs.

In a video shared on social media, Hegseth said the Air Force has worked for six months with DOGE, Trump’s cost-cutting team, “cutting waste and working with vendors to reduce contract spendings.”

“I want to commend you, Mr. Secretary, and the entire Air Force team in rooting out excess,” Hegseth added.

Proud to announce with @SecAFOfficial 10 billion dollars worth of savings @DOGE pic.twitter.com/wOM6743zzq
— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) July 16, 2025

Meink said the department reviewed more than 500 contracts and 50 business systems as part of its efforts.

“With the modernization going on, which is the largest in the history of the Air Force, every last dollar is going to be necessary to bring that lethality and peace through strength,” he said.

A Department of the Air Force spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine that the total savings were valued at $10.4 billion, to include “cost savings or avoidance on contracts including descoping, reducing the contract ceiling, terminating, or declining to exercise contract option periods.”

The spokesperson could not provide a detailed breakdown of those savings, but did provide a few examples.

By far the biggest savings—or at least cost avoidance—comes from reductions to the Department of the Air Force Strategic Transformation Support contract, an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity contract through which offices can access consulting and advisory services on Air Force enterprise changes.

The Air Force spokesperson claimed that by terminating and descoping the program, the department saved $4.8 billion. On its website, DOGE says it saved $3.75 billion by terminating a second AFSTS contract vehicle before it was awarded, plus another $832 million by canceling a task order for Deloitte under the first AFSTS contract, and $104 million in AFSTS contracts for other consultants.

Most of those savings aren’t funds that have been spent or obligated, though. Under IDIQ contracts, companies can compete for task orders up to the ceiling amount listed. But the actual amount spent can vary. USASpending.gov, for example, lists $353 million in Pentagon spending on AFSTS. In fiscal 2024, the total was around $12.17 million.

Additionally, “we identified significant savings in terminating IT Service Contracts by eliminating unused software licenses,” the Air Force spokesperson said. “In one example, we were paying for 16,000 licenses but only 300 licenses were being used. That’s a utilization rate of just 1.9 percent. We renegotiated the contract to match actual deployment needs. The result: $19.4 million in immediate savings plus long-term cost avoidance by rightsizing the license usage.”

DOGE’s website notes a canceled contract worth $309.9 million for an Air Force Research Laboratory effort called Mayhem, meant to develop “a larger class air-breathing hypersonic system capable of executing multiple missions with a standardized payload interface,” plus another

The Air Force also noted DOGE savings in documents for its 2026 budget request released last month, most of it from civilian personnel reductions or consulting and contractor cuts. A budget briefing notes $1.7 billion in savings from “civilian workforce optimization” and $1 billion from cutting back on “Advisory and Assistance Services.” It also claimed $368.1 million in savings on reduced travel expenses, and $340.9 million in shelved climate initiatives.

Air Force and Space Force officials told Congress earlier this year they expect to a significant portion of their civilian workforce as part of a the DOGE drive to reduce the Pentagon civilian workforce by 5 to 8 percent. Lt. Gen. Caroline Miller, Air Force deputy chief of staff for manpower, personnel, and services, said she expects to lose about 12,000 Air Force civilians, roughly 6 percent of the department’s 186,000 civilian employees. Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman estimated a reduction of “almost 14 percent of our civilian workforce.”

Hegseth’s office did not immediately provide a breakdown of the purported savings.

Bussiere, Bratton Tapped For Air Force and Space Force Vice Chief Roles

July 16, 2025 | By Chris Gordon

The Air Force and Space Force are both set to have new No. 2 officers. Gen. Thomas A. Bussiere has been nominated for Air Force Vice Chief of Staff and Lt. Gen. Shawn N. Bratton has been nominated to receive a fourth star as the Vice Chief of Space Operations.

President Donald Trump announced the appointments July 15, according to a Congressional notices. Both positions require Senate confirmation, and the nominations have been referred to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Bussiere is currently the head of Air Force Global Strike Command, which oversees the nation’s land-based nuclear missiles and its fleet of bombers. The career B-2 pilot has held numerous Air Force and joint leadership positions within the Pentagon’s nuclear enterprise throughout his career. Bussiere has been in his current role since December 2022. The Air Force has been without a Vice Chief since February, when Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth removed Gen. James C. Slife from his position, along with then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. and former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti.

Bussiere’s nomination comes as the Pentagon is modernizing all three legs of its nuclear triad as well as the command and control of its nuclear forces, much of which falls to the Air Force. The service is preparing to field the B-21 Raider stealth bomber, which is currently in testing, and the LGM-35A Sentinel, slated to replace over 400 fielded Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles. The B-21 is on track, but Sentinel faces large cost overruns and delays. Lt. Gen. Scott L. Pleus, the Director of Staff, has been serving as the acting VCSAF.

If confirmed, Bussiere would serve as deputy to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin.

The Space Force’s No. 2 job, in contrast, opened up recently. Current Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. Michael A. Guetlein was tapped by Trump in May to lead his Golden Dome missile defense initiative. He was formally nominated to the newly created “direct reporting program manager for Golden Dome for America” role in June. Guetlein is awaiting Senate confirmation for that role.

Bratton has been heavily involved in shaping the Space Force’s identity, capabilities, and the development of Guardians. He currently serves as the Space Force’s strategy, requirements, and budget czar, a position he has held since July 2023. Along with Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, he helped develop the service’s recently unveiled Space Warfighting framework. Bratton previously served as the first commander of Space Training and Readiness Command, which oversees the service’s doctrine, testing, and training.

The Space Force has been advocating for more resources as it takes on an increasing number of responsibilities across the DOD. That looks set to grow even more under Golden Dome, as much of the nation’s key missile warning capabilities are space-based, and the Pentagon has proposed moving more terrestrial capabilities, such as targeting, to space-based assets. The Space Force is also moving to counter Russian and Chinese weapons that could threaten America’s satellites and develop “counter-space” capabilities of its own.

Space Force Accepts New GPS Control System After Years of Delays

July 16, 2025 | By Greg Hadley

A decade and a half after contracting for a new ground control system to manage its GPS satellites, the Pentagon has finally gotten its hands on the thing.

The Space Force officially took ownership of the GPS Next Generation Operational Control System, or OCX, from contractor RTX on July 1.

Accepting OCX does not mean it is already being used operationally, however. Integrated systems testing and readiness exercises must follow first. But if all goes well, OCX will enter operations late this year, said Col. Stephen Hobbs, commander of Mission Delta 31.

Hobbs’ Delta, which operates the GPS constellation, worked with Space Systems Command on transition exercises, trials, and rehearsals prior to acceptance, he said in a release. The update is key to enabling enhancements like anti-jamming, improved accuracy, and secure geolocation using M-Code.

It has been a long and arduous road to develop OCX, which began with prototyping contracts back in 2007. In 2012, the Air Force estimated that OCX would enter operations by June 2017 with a program cost of $3.7 billion, per the Government Accountability Office. If current estimates hold, it will enter service in December with a program cost of $7.7 billion.

The Air Force selected Raytheon to build the system in 2012; by 2016, delays and extra costs had mounted so much that the Air Force had to declare a Nunn-McCurdy breach, indicating “critical” cost and schedule overruns. Even after the program was certified to continue, delays continued.

Raytheon, now called RTX, delivered a “Block 0” capability in 2017, which was limited to launch, checkout, and testing for use on the first GPS III satellites. It took eight years more to deliver Blocks 1 and 2, which enable command and control of the satellites.

Former space acquisition executive Frank Calvelli called OCX “troubled,” an “albatross,” and a “problem child.” The scale and complexity of the project wer what caused oll the delays. Trying to create an entirely new, very large software system all in one go is now viewed as an outdated approach, compared to modern software practices which favor breaking down development work into manageable “sprints” and making rapid, iterative updates.

Cordell DeLaPena, program executive officer for military communications and position, navigation, and timing, called OCX the “hardest” program he’s ever worked in his 25-year career.

The next phase for OCX is already underway: Block 3F will enable it to control new GPS III Follow-On satellites, expected to start launching in 2027. In its 2026 budget request, the Space Force asked for $70.9 million to work on Block 3F, as part of a ramp-up in “software development and factory testing.”

Air Force Funds New External Pylons for B-1, Eyeing Loadout Gains and Hypersonic Testing

July 15, 2025 | By John A. Tirpak

The Air Force plans to add external weapons pylons on the B-1B bomber, both to increase the number of aircraft that can test hypersonic missiles and expand the Lancer’s loadout as USAF transitions to the B-21 bomber, according to service budget documents and contractor Boeing.

The fiscal 2026 budget request includes $50.26 million for a new effort called the “External Heavy-Stores Pylon program,” which will provide “increased carriage capacity of standoff munitions on B-1B aircraft.” This “increased volume of fires” off the B-1B can be done in the near term, the documents state.

By expanding the number of existing standoff weapons the B-1B can carry—such as the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile and its stablemate, the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM)—the Air Force says it can “mitigate transition risk of the Air Force bomber fleet prior to the emergence of the B-21 as a combat bomber.”

In other words, the Air Force wants to give the B-1B more shots per sortie in part to account for any delays as the B-21 enters the fleet.

The B-1 already has six external hardpoints, which were originally intended to carry two nuclear-armed AGM-86B Air-Launched Cruise Missiles, but they were deactivated under arms control treaties with Russia; those agreements saw the B-1 removed from nuclear delivery missions. The Air Force is now looking to reopen those weapon stations, each of which the service said should be capable of carrying a 5,000-pound payload.

One external station on the B-1B was already reopened to permit it to carry the Sniper laser electro-optical targeting pod.

For fiscal 2026, the Air Force plans to conduct computational fluid dynamics and wind tunnel testing of various external pylon/weapon configurations and begin the design of needed hardware changes. The service will also start software work to tie the new pylons in with the Lancer’s stores management system.

Two years ago, Boeing revealed the Load Adaptable Modular pylon, which could allow the B-1 to carry additional weapons on external stations. The company promoted the idea of using the B-1 for hypersonics testing, arguing that B-52 fleet already has enough testing to be done in the next seven years, given various programs to give it new radar, engines, communications gear, and other upgrades. Boeing said the B-52 program could offload some or all hypersonic testing to the B-1, given the right external capability.

Part of the 2026 B-1B budget documents note that USAF spent $20 million over fiscal years ’22 and ’23 to develop “an external carry-enabled testbed facilitating rapid integration of priority hypersonic weapons in support of national security objectives” and this created the “opportunity” to increase the B-1’s loadout.

“This program provides an opportunity to significantly reduce risk for an operational external carry capability on the B-1B if directed. The Hypersonic Integration Program successfully demonstrated the B-1’s ability to execute a captive carry of a 5,000-pound class store and the release of a proven weapon shape from a Load Adaptable Modular (LAM) pylon,” the document states.

One of those “opportunities” is the LRASM. Adding the LRASM to the B-1 “addresses an air-launch capability gap” by providing “flexible, long-range, advanced, anti-surface capability against high-threat maritime targets.”

The documents stated that procurement of the latest version of the LRASM will start near the end of fiscal 2027 and continue “until the missile inventory objective is met.”

According to an in-house Boeing newsletter, addition of the LAM could allow the B-1 to “increase 50 percent of its current weapons payload capacity with larger and heavier weapons.” It said each of the six pylons can carry two 2,000-pound weapons or one 5,000-pound weapon. The system was developed under independent research and development, and the company said it “saved over two years of development time, speeding increased combat capability to the flight line.”

With the new pylons, the B-1’s loadout of JASSM or LRASM could increase from 24 missiles internally to 36 in a mix of internal and external hardpoints.

The Air Force has at least two air-launched hypersonic missiles in development. It initially said it was shelving the AGM-183 Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW)—a boost-glide hypersonic system—after mixed results in testing, but ARRW is back in the 2026 budget. The service is also pursuing the smaller Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM), an air-breathing missile small enough to be launched from fighters. When Boeing first unveiled the LAM to reporters in 2023, it said the pylon could likely carry up to 7,500 pounds, which would allow it to carry the ARRW, the weight of which is estimated to be around 6,500 pounds. It’s not clear if the budget language specifying 5,000 pounds is the result of test results.

The LAM continues in testing under the 412th Test Wing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., which has demonstrated the pylon with inert munitions.

B-52s Escorted by Korean and Japanese Fighters as Defense Chiefs Meet

July 15, 2025 | By Chris Gordon

The U.S., South Korea, and Japan conducted a rare trilateral flight with two U.S. B-52H Stratofortress bombers escorted by two Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-2 fighters and two ROK Air Force KF-16s, both countries’ respective variants of the F-16, on July 11. That same weekend, the top military officers of the three nations met in an annual “Tri-CHOD” meeting in Seoul.

“The flight continues to demonstrate and train the collective ability to immediately respond to regional security challenges,” U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement. “Our steadfast commitment fosters trust, strengthens cooperation, and reinforces the collective will and ability to maintain security and stability in the Indo-Pacific.”

The event is the third trilateral flight of 2025 between the three nations, including a B-1B Lancer bomber escort flight in January.

The B-52H Stratofortress bombers that participated in the mission are deployed to Anderson Air Force Base, Guam, from their home at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., on a bomber task force deployment. The deployment is occurring during the Resolute Force Pacific exercise, which is scheduled to involve more than 300 aircraft.

The same day, Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held a trilateral meeting with South Korean Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Kim Myung-soo and Japan’s Chief of Staff for Joint Staff Gen. Yoshida Yoshihide. Caine and the U.S. delegation also had bilateral meetings with both countries.

Both the B-52 flight and the meetings underscore how China’s military buildup and aggressive posture in the Pacific have changed regional dynamics. South Korea and Japan have historically had an acrimonious relationship but have increasingly participated in military drills together and with the U.S., their main ally.

“The three chiefs of defense recognized the importance of close trilateral cooperation in addressing security challenges on the Korean Peninsula, in the Indo-Pacific, and beyond,” a joint declaration from the meeting stated. “The three defense chiefs reaffirmed that trilateral security cooperation has played a key role in promoting peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific. They focused on various ways to deepen their cooperation to ensure peace and stability in the region.”

China was not singled out by name, but the joint statement took particular aim at the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK, as North Korea is formally known. North Korea has moved to assist Russia in its war in Ukraine by deploying troops and supplying missiles as it continues its nuclear weapons program.

“The defense chiefs condemned the DPRK’s continued development of unlawful nuclear and ballistic missile programs and agreed to continue coordination toward the complete denuclearization of the DPRK in accordance with relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs),” the joint statement read. “They also discussed the deployment of the DPRK’s troops to Russia, as well as the potential transfer of military technology from Russia to the DPRK. They urged the DPRK to immediately cease all unlawful activities to destabilize the Korean Peninsula, the Indo-Pacific, and beyond, and pledged to continue working together to respond to the DPRK’s threats.”

Lawmakers Push Space Force to Invest in New, Commercial Surveillance

July 15, 2025 | By Greg Hadley

Space Force leaders have touted their “surveillance-as-a-service” TacSRT program as a success story, leveraging commercial firms to deliver information to users on timelines far faster than typical space intelligence assets.

Now, lawmakers want the service to put more heft behind the effort—starting by actually funding the program in fiscal 2026.

Additionally, Congress is pushing for the Space Force to enhance its tactical surveillance capabilities by exploring the rapidly growing domain of very low-Earth orbit.

TacSRT

While agencies such as the National Reconnaissance Office and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency can provide high-level strategic intelligence, the Space Force has positioned the Tactical Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Tracking program as an unclassified, easy way for organizations across the Pentagon to create task orders for recon or surveillance information that industry can fulfill within hours.

For example, leaders say TacSRT was used during the withdrawal from air bases in Niger and the construction of the Joint-Logistics-Over-the-Shore pier off Gaza in 2024 to keep U.S. forces safe.

“The demand signal is now out there, and people are seeing the positive effects,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman said earlier this year. “We’re going to go, ‘OK, we’ve got to go get some money for this, because we can expand this program.’”

In 2024 and 2025, the Space Force didn’t actually request funds for the Tactical Surveillance, Reconnaissance, and Tracking program. Instead, Congress added around $40 million to the program each year. When the 2026 budget request came out last month, it seemed that TacSRT had been squeezed out by other priorities, leaving it up to Congress once again to keep the program going.

Members of the House of Representatives took note.

In the defense appropriations bill recently advanced out of the House Rules Committee, lawmakers wrote that they are “concerned that funding the project solely through congressional increases does not enable the project to plan beyond the year of execution.”

As a result, they directed the Pentagon’s Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) office to “review the program, its mission use cases and objectives, and its contracting mechanisms; identify and make recommendations for the pilot project’s organization, its operations, and its use of contracts with commercial vendors; and identify and make recommendations.” Within six months, CAPE would have to brief Congress on its findings.

Meanwhile, lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee working on the National Defense Authorization bill included $50 million for TacSRT in their legislation, though that funding would need to be appropriated.

They also directed the Secretary of the Air Force to make TacSRT a program of record and told the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs to “establish requirements … with respect to the tactical surveillance, reconnaissance and tracking program providing capabilities to meet the requirements of the commanders of the combatant commands.”

VLEO

Lawmakers working on both the appropriations and authorization bills are also directing the Space Force to explore uses for very low-Earth orbit, a subset of LEO that generally extends no higher than 450 kilometers above the Earth’s surface.

In the authorization bill, the HASC added $5 million directed toward “VLEO Spacecraft for Tactical SRT.” The committee also adopted an amendment offered by Rep. Jeff Crank (R-Colo.) that states it recognizes the potential of VLEO for “persistent surveillance, tactical ISR, and responsive sensing in contested environments.”

“VLEO systems can offer ground sample distances below 20 cm with modest apertures, reduced latency for real-time edge processing, and a higher degree of stealth from ground-based sensors due to lower orbital altitude and rapid transit across observation arcs,” Crank’s amendment states. “These properties are especially relevant for tactical surveillance, denied-area sensing, and time-sensitive targeting.”

The amendment directs the Secretary of the Air Force, in consultation with the Chief of Space Operations and the director of the NRO, to study the technology, potential uses, costs, and risks associated with VLEO and provide recommendations and a briefing to lawmakers by March 2026.

In a separate amendment to the defense appropriations bill, Crank is proposing adding $1 million to the budget “for the development of a Very Low Earth Orbit Persistent Surveillance System.” That amendment has cleared the House Rules Committee and will now be considered on the floor, alongside dozens of other proposed amendments.

The VLEO market is poised to explode in the coming years, analysts say, and the ability to conduct better Earth observation is a key reason why. Yet the orbit is also challenging in that atmospheric drag constantly threatens to pull satellites back down to Earth.

In a Small Business Innovation Research solicitation released earlier this year, the Space Force asked companies for “novel propulsion systems” to keep satellites in VLEO. By doing so, the solicitation noted, the service hopes to unlock sustained operations in VLEO for missions like “intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR), communications, and space domain awareness.” The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has also funded efforts to develop propulsion tech for VLEO.

House Makes Moves to Block Pentagon from Canceling E-7 Wedgetail

July 15, 2025 | By Rachel S. Cohen

House lawmakers are moving to keep the Air Force’s E-7 Wedgetail development program alive after the Pentagon announced plans to wind it down in the coming years.

During its markup of the annual defense policy bill July 15, the House Armed Services Committee tacked on an amendment from Rep. Donald Norcross (D-N.J.) that would block the Defense Department from using 2026 funding to end the Air Force’s E-7 prototyping contract with Boeing or to shut down production of the airborne target-tracking jet.

One day earlier, the powerful House Rules Committee also advanced an $831.5 billion defense spending package for 2026 that would bar the military from using federal dollars to pause or end pursuit of a Wedgetail fleet, or from preparing to do so. The bill similarly stops defense officials from moving money for the E-7 to fund another program.

Together, the measures illustrate Congress’ willingness to push back on the Trump administration’s decision to abandon one of the Air Force’s highest-priority acquisitions. If the provisions become law, the E-7 would become the latest example of the Pentagon and the executive branch’s frequent struggles to win congressional approval for major inventory changes.

Wedgetails—and their predecessor, the E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System—can spot incoming missiles and enemy aircraft from afar and direct the movement of other air assets accordingly. Instead of replacing the decades-old E-3s with the E-7, already flown by multiple U.S. allies, the Pentagon’s latest budget request would turn to Navy aircraft and then satellites to perform the moving target indication mission instead.

The Air Force had previously sought to buy a pair of bespoke E-7s, modified to meet the U.S. military’s unique requirements, for $2.6 billion before ramping up to a fleet of 26 operational jets. The service was slated to begin receiving them in fiscal 2028.

Proponents of the new fleet—including a bevy of former four-star generals who made their concerns public last week—argue space-based tracking isn’t mature enough to meet the U.S. military’s short-term need. Critics say the Wedgetail is too vulnerable to advanced air defenses wielded by the same militaries it’s designed to watch.

Despite their tacit approval of continuing the E-7 buy, House Rules members stopped short of allowing lawmakers to bolster the program with more money. The committee declined to add an amendment from Norcross, the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services tactical air and land forces panel, and Rep. Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash.) that would have brought next year’s funding for the E-7 program to nearly $800 million—a $300 million increase over the House’s original proposal.

A spokesperson for Norcross said the amendment was left out of the final package that the full House will vote on because it wasn’t deemed “in order,” or appropriate, to include with the bill.

The spending boost would have ensured House authorizers and appropriators are in lockstep in their support for the E-7 program, after the armed services committee released legislation last week green-lighting $799.7 million to continue prototyping. That’s four times as much money as the Trump administration requested for Wedgetails this year.

Without the tweak, the House proposal puts $500 million toward the Wedgetail effort to sustain airborne early warning capability while new options mature. The measure now heads to the House floor for a vote by the full chamber.

It’s unclear whether the Senate will back the decision to end the E-7 buy. Senate appropriators haven’t yet released a Pentagon budget blueprint for 2026, and the Senate Armed Services Committee hasn’t published the full text of the defense policy bill it approved July 11.

Space Force Unit that Tracked Iranian Missiles Earns New Honor

July 14, 2025 | By Matthew Cox

The Guardians of the 11th Space Warning Squadron were honored as the top U.S. Space Force unit for 2024 for their role in thwarting Iranian missile barrages last year.

The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies selected the 11th SWS for the first-ever General Atomics Space Force Unit of the Year largely for unit’s the precise early warning of incoming missiles, which helped Air Force fighter pilots thousands of miles away launch to destroy hundreds of incoming Iranian missiles aimed at Israel in April and October of 2024.

The new award follows the Mitchell Institute’s annual General Atomics Remotely Piloted Aircraft Squadron of the Year award and seeks to recognize the achievements of Space Force units that often operate in the shadows from bases in the U.S. to deliver critical capabilities to front line warfighters.

When Iran began to launch missiles on April 13, alarms were set off at the 11th SWS and 2nd SWS operation centers. Just one missile will trigger an alarm that sounds “ding, ding, ding,” and before the attack was over, those alarms rang out 300 times.

Crews of a half dozen Guardians scurried to track each missile, verify the data, and pass it along as quickly as possible.

Capt. Abigail Flanner, weapons officer for the 11th, recalled how her teammates worked under extreme pressure in a recent episode of the Mitchell Institute’s Aerospace Advantage podcast.

“Those were both unprecedented attacks; we saw hundreds of missiles in a matter of minutes, and that really required us to look at how we’re doing our job,” Flannery said. “It really pushed our squadron to just figure out how [to] best tackle this new kind of threat … to make sure we’re providing that missile warning and missile defense that we need to be.”

Many of the Guardians proving themselves that day were newbies, not long out of high school, said Crew Chief Sgt. Jonathan Stark.

“This is their first responsibility right after high school, and we’re asking a lot of them,” Stark said. “And it’s just amazing to see how patient they are and how ready to accomplish the mission, and just how fired up they get for a mission.”

Throughout 2024, the 11th SWS reported some 2,700 missile launches, evaluated game-changing battlefield technologies, and developed courses of action for responding to large-scale missile salvos. Their work that increased on-time warning by 69 percent, according to their awards package.

Based at Buckley Space Force Base, Colo., the 11th traces its roots to Operation Desert Storm, where it was first created to provide early warning of Iraqi Scud missile launches. Today, it operates the Space-Based Infrared Systems satellite constellation and the Overhead Persistent Infra-Red Battlespace Awareness Center.

The 11th is responsible for “so much more than missile warning and tracking,” said the squadron’s commander, Lt. Col. Amanda Manship. It also evaluates emerging capabilities from Space Systems Command and sometimes delivers those capabilities “within days” to meet combatant commanders’ urgent battlefield requirements, she said.

During Iran’s April attack, the 11th was evaluating the next generation ground architecture for space based missile warning, known as the Future Operation Resilient Ground Evolution, or FORGE. That system will eventually replace the Space Awareness Global Exploitation, or SAGE, system, providing a scalable framework capable of handling greater volumes of missile launches more quickly, even while under cyber attack.

“We were actually in a trial period during the April attacks … and my team not only was trying to assess this new system, but put it to the test under literal fire,” Manship said. “The team did great adapting to the new system and the new way it operated while still meeting the objectives of missile warning and tracking.”

The 11th is the first unit to receive the GA Space Force Unit of the Year award. The Mitchell Institute spent more than a year working with Space Force staff to develop the judging criteria and other aspects of the award, said Charles Galbreath, senior resident fellow for the institute’s Space Power Center of Excellence. Units compete on the basis of how effectively they accomplish their mission, their impact on the overall force, and the ways they demonstrate innovation.

Manship said she was surprised when the 11th was selected, considering the caliber of talent throughout the Space Force. When she was able to share the news with her team, Manship said, she felt like a “proud mama hen” staring into their faces and seeing the “looks of proudness on all of their faces.”

The 11th will get to keep and display their trophy for a year, until it’s time for someone else to win. The trophy is decorated with the core values of the Space Force—character, commitment, connection and courage.

Now, as Manship prepares for her change of command, she said she sees those values reflected in her Guardians daily.

“I see it every single day with all of them,” she said, “regardless of rank, regardless of position. And they’re killing it.”