Adm. Timothy Keating, head of NORAD and US Northern Command, recently got to explain his rationale for moving NORAD’s air defense operators from their long-time home within Cheyenne Mountain AFS, Colo., to the NORAD headquarters at nearby Peterson Air Force Base to Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.). Allard told reporters following a tour of NORAD’s Peterson command center and discussion with Keating that his concerns about the move “have been alleviated.” (Allard also acknowledged that he had concerns about the combining the two commands, but said that he was “pleased” with what he’d seen.) Keating explained that consolidating at Peterson would enhance operations and interaction among various functions.
The United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force has unveiled a new electronic warfare drone designed to fly with fighter jets into contested airspace, including alongside its fleet of F-35s. RAF says it plans to develop models that draw on the U.S. Air Force’s approach of mating unmanned systems with crewed platforms.