The satellite gurus over at Air Force Space Command are making progress on modernizing the equipment, ground control systems, and military-user tools needed to upgrade the Global Positioning System. According to a Wednesday release from AFSPC, eight of the latest Block IIR replenishment satellites will be modernized with new military codes and a civil signal, and the first GPS IIR-M is scheduled for launch later this year. The new signals will provide less vulnerability to interference and increased performance in accuracy, availability, integrity and reliability.
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.