The Air National Guard-run 1st Air Force formally opened its new 37,000-square foot, $30 million air operations center at Tyndall AFB, Fla., as planned on June 1. The mission of the 601st Air and Space Operations Center—also known as America’s Air Operations Center—is to plan, direct, and assess air and space operations for NORAD and US Northern Command, working both attack and natural disaster operations.
Since President Donald Trump first unveiled his “Golden Dome” missile defense initiative in late January, much of the focus for it has been focused on space—how the Pentagon may deploy dozens, if not hundreds, of sensors and interceptors into orbit to protect the continental U.S. from missile barrages. But the Air…