Maj. Gen. William Lord, commander of Air Force Cyber Command (Provisional), last week told attendees at an industry association meeting at Hanscom AFB, Mass., that “it is easier to get approval to do a kinetic strike with a 2,000-pound bomb than it is for us to do a non-kinetic cyber activity.” Currently, he said, “we’re always shooting behind the rabbit” because cyber defense is not yet proactive. He said, “I think that cyber can be the next strategic force of the future,” and to make that happen the service must “operationalize” cyber within the warfighting arsenal. (Lord has been nominated to become the Air Force Chief of Warfighting Integration.) (Hanscom report by Chuck Paone)
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design the Air Force said.