Tigers and Devils

It’s often said commanders have an insatiable appetite for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. When it comes to space, commercial capabilities are helping to at least whet that appetite, Space Force commanders said at the Spacepower Conference this week.

The first iteration of the Pentagon’s Replicator initiative should achieve its goals of providing thousands of cheap, autonomous platforms in all combat domains by July 2025, the deputy director of the Defense Innovation Unit said Dec. 12.

Two dozen KC-135 crew members from multiple bases received the Distinguished Flying Cross for refueling the fighters that shot down 80 Iranian drones and missiles bound for Israel on April 13.  

The Space Force is flying new command and control software on experimental satellites that can automate some functions for ops crews. The new software, dubbed R2C2 for Rapid and Resilient Command and Control, is leading a wave of new applications for artificial intelligence and automation for space, leaders said at the…

Col. Larry Fenner, the commander of the Air Force’s only Spectrum Warfare Wing, came to the Association of Old Crows electronic warfare trade show looking for tools he can use to automate key parts of his mission workload.

Chinese satellites in geosynchronous orbit are maneuvering at high rates, practicing orbital warfare techniques, studying other spacecraft, and testing new ways to evade threats—and Space Force and industry leaders warn the U.S. must learn to maneuver in response. 

The Department of the Air Force’s installations czar revealed a plan Dec. 11 to fix Air Force and Space Force facilities that are increasingly in a state of decay, including airfields, water and electrical systems, munitions storage, and other critical base facilities. 

Nearly a year after the Department of Defense signed off on a new policy meant to reduce classified restrictions on space programs, not a single weapon system has yet made it through the process, the head of U.S. Space Command said Dec. 11. But that’s not to say they're not trying.

A U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper was mistakenly shot down in northern Syria on Dec. 9 by the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces, U.S. officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine.