AFA Almanac

U.S. Space Command is still passionate about the idea of being able to maneuver satellites in orbits without worrying about conserving fuel. But how exactly to achieve that remains unsettled as the combatant command works with the Pentagon’s acquisition enterprise, SPACECOM’s deputy commander said. 

The Department of Defense is pushing ahead with a plan to automate and streamline the system it uses to ensure that software running on military networks is secure, and will start implementation next month, acting Chief Information Officer Katie Arrington said May 7. 

The B-52 Radar Modernization Program has incurred a Nunn-McCurdy breach, with a cost estimate increase of more than 15 percent, the Air Force said. A breach of that magnitude won’t require the Secretary of Defense to certify the program as critical to national defense, but the program may be reduced…

The Air Force announced a successful ejection seat test for its T-7A trainer, and an official told lawmakers the service expects the jet to achieve initial operating capability by November 2027—two signs of progress for the program.

The Supreme Court's May 6 decision to grant the Trump administration's request to block a lower court's injunction means the Defense Department can resume separating transgender service members under a directive issued in February.

B-52 bombers are on the move to the island of Diego Garcia, where multiple B-2 bombers have been stationed for weeks.

Aerospace Industries Association president Eric Fanning says steady, predictable defense budgets, not outliers like the proposed $150 billion reconciliation package, are the way for the Pentagon to get the production capacity increases it wants.

The Air Force and other military services are deploying artificial intelligence tools in their IT networks and Security Operations Centers where personnel monitor cyber threats, officials said May 6—but they are leveraging the emerging technology cautiously even as some say it is ready to transform the very nature of warfare.

The Air Force has added new self-guided gliders to deliver cargo to “high-risk environments” without putting a manned aircraft in danger. Contractor DZYNE and the Air Force Research Laboratory unveiled the new “Grasshopper” gliders, which can be dropped out of a C-17 or C-130 and fly “tens of miles.”