The Mega Force

The full-up Tech Refresh 3 for the F-35 won't be delivered until 2025, Lockheed Martin officials said April 23. A "truncated" version will be delivered this fall so users can start taking delivery of their jets, and then be able to exploit the full capabilities once the complete upgrade is…

Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman said reforms underway to the Space Force’s deployment and training model are the “most drastic change accompanying the establishment of the Space Force” in a note distributed to Guardians on April 19. “It fundamentally alters how we prepare for operations,” Saltzman wrote…

An Air Force C-130J crew braved a long flight around half the planet last week as part of an experiment testing how quickly they could respond to a crisis in the Indo-Pacific. Dubbed Hazard Leap, the test kicked off on April 20 when two full crews in a C-130J assigned…

The U.S. thwarted a drone attack on U.S. forces at Al Asad air base in western Iraq on April 22, marking the first time that American troops have been targeted since February, U.S. officials said. “We can confirm it was an attack on Al Asad,” a defense official told Air & Space…

Polish president Adrzej Duda said in a interview published April 22 his country is "ready" to become one of the "nuclear sharing" NATO partners that can deploy American tactical nuclear weapons from their fighter aircraft, but prime minister Donald Tusk said no such decision has been made.

The Air Force found no significant evidence of harmful chemicals at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., as part of its ongoing Missile Community Cancer Study, the service said on April 22. Samples collected in February found “no instances of contamination above regulatory action level.” The sampling of Vandenberg focused on polychlorinated…

Government Accountability Office urged the Department of Defense to set concrete goals for improving user satisfaction with military health system (MHS) Genesis, the widely-maligned program meant to modernize and streamline the military’s electronic health record (EHR) networks, the GAO said in a report released April 18.

The first live-fly dogfights pitting artificial intelligence against human pilots took place last fall, and more tests are planned as the Air Force prepares to launch the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, DARPA and Air Force test officials reported.

A new law introduced by Congress would raise the pay rate 15 percent for junior enlisted troops and seek improvements on a range of quality of life issues, such as pay and compensation, child care, housing, health care access, and military spouse employment.