By 2016, seven of NASA’s 13 Earth-monitoring satellites will go dark, posing a risk to national security and US foreign policy interests, warns a Center for New American Security policy brief released Monday. Meanwhile, efforts to prevent a capability gap “have been plagued by budget cuts, launch failures, technical deficiencies, chronic delays, and poor interagency coordination,” write authors Christine Parthemore and Will Rogers. Further, the Air Force’s last Defense Meteorological Satellite Program satellite is expected to go out of service in 2019, they note. With the cancellation of the proposed follow-on National Polar-Orbiting Environmental Satellite System, it’s “unclear whether DOD will be prepared to meet the capability shortfall on its own” or “have to rely on civilian capabilities,” they contend. Post-NPOESS, the Air Force has been pursuing the Defense Weather Satellite System to address the military’s future weather forecasting needs. The policy brief does not discuss DWSS by name. (CNAS policy brief)
AETC Readies for 1st Production T-7 Trainer
Dec. 5, 2025
Air Education & Training Command is poised to receive its first T-7A Red Hawk in the coming days, the start of a process that will end with pilots finally getting trained in the eagerly anticipated jet.
