Air Force Space Command’s 4th Space Operations Squadron at Schriever AFB, Colo., has been envisioning for almost two years a method to get a mobile Milstar communications satellite command and control vehicle downsized so it would fit into a C-17 airlifter. It has succeeded, loading its ground mobile-3 vehicle onto a C-17 on Sept. 10. This means each deployment, which had been done via C-5, will drop in cost by more than $360,000. According to 1st Lt. Craig Cherek, with 4th SOPS, the idea piggybacked off work already done by the Colorado Air National Guard’s 137th Space Warning Squadron.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
