Rise of an Existential” Dilemma”

The Space Force wants to grow its enlisted force faster than its officer corps, the top enlisted Guardian said May 5, part of a push to make enlisted personnel the service’s primary operators. 

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is directing the Pentagon to slash the number of senior generals and admirals, he announced May 5—at least 20 percent of four-star positions would be eliminated under the move. Hegseth also said he is directing a sweeping review of U.S. military commands and staffs, signaling…

The Stratolaunch Talon-A2 hypersonic vehicle flew a second time in March, after a first flight in December, making it the first re-usable hypersonic test craft since the X-15, the Pentagon announced May 5. The craft is expected to increase the pace of hypersonic testing and experimentation.

The personnel chiefs for the Air Force and Space Force told lawmakers that plans to lay off thousands of civilian employees could present challenges to recruitment efforts and perhaps even operations, particularly for the Space Force.

The new rules for buying software made mandatory by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s March 6 memo are designed to strip away constraints on how the DOD and the military services contract with private sector companies, so that they can buy, integrate, and deploy innovative capabilities more quickly. But critics warn…

Beginning in the fall, 2nd Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Wolfe Davidson plans to introduce a new curriculum for Basic Military Training that will focus on training Airmen and Space Force Guardians in much smaller groups, while replacing some classroom instruction with a more hands-on learning approach.

The Air Force's new Aircraft Readiness Unit will maintain and provide Collaborative Combat Aircraft for operations, but won’t serve as a “schoolhouse” teaching fighter pilots how to manage these escort drones.

The U.S. has approved a $310.5 million Foreign Military Sale to provide Ukraine with maintenance and training for its F-16 fighter jets, the State Department announced May 2. Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force has been sending retired F-16s to Ukraine to be used for spare parts.

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.