2024 USAF & USSF Almanac: Weapons & Platforms

The Senate voted to confirm Space Force Gen. Michael A. Guetlein to his new job as “direct reporting program manager” for President Donald Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense initiative on July 17. 

U.S. Air Force F-35s recently operated from the Philippines for the first time ever as part of the latest edition of the Cope Thunder exercise.

The Senate Armed Services Committee this week released the full text of its version of the 2026 defense policy bill—often referred to as the National Defense Authorization Act—that would allow the Air Force and Space Force to spend billions of dollars more than the services had sought for next year.

Swarms of kinetic and electronic attack “Wolf Pack” munitions, operating collaboratively, could overwhelm enemy defenses, L3Harris said of its new low-cost combat aerial vehicles.

The Space Force is promoting new noncomissioned officers at a breakneck pace, as the service announced another year of sky-high rates for junior NCOs.

The Air Force’s helicopter fleet gets a major shakeup in the 2026 budget, highlighted by a decision to modify HH-60W helicopters to ferry VIPs around Washington, D.C., according to budget documents and a spokesperson.

The House Armed Services Committee on July 15 passed its draft of the 2026 defense policy bill, 55-2, in a late-night vote following nearly 14 hours of debate over hot-button issues ranging from President Donald Trump’s desire to use a Qatari jet as Air Force One to cutting military aid…

Combining the National Reconnaissance Office with the Space Force's Space Systems Command could help turbocharge national security space acquisition, argues Mark Berkowitz, the Trump administration's nominee to be assistant secretary of defense for space policy, in a newly published essay he coauthored.  

Lockheed Martin has revealed a second version of its Common Multi-Mission Truck vehicle, and both types have recently been tested successfully, the company said.