B-1 Bomber Task Force Deploys to Japan
A quartet of B-1Bs from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas have landed at Misawa AB, Japan, likely for a series of exercises with Japanese, U.S. and Australian forces.
Navy CCA Program’s Shape Coming into Focus
In announcing its Navy Collaborative Combat Aircraft contract, General Atomics has provided some clues as to where the service is heading with its version of an armed, autonomous fighter escort. It will likely be quite different from the Air Force version.
Space Force Contract to Inform Commercial Weather Strategy
The Space Force’s recent contract to Muon Space to repurpose their commercial weather satellites for military use will inform a broader “data-as-a-service” strategy for its space-based environmental monitoring mission.
Alaska Air Guard Evacuates Hundreds of Typhoon Victims
In the wake of an intense storm, Alaska Air National Guard Airmen evacuated more than 500 residents by C-17s as heavy storm surges flooded villages in the region.
Radar Sweep
Renewed Fighting Tests Gaza Ceasefire and Israel Briefly Halts Aid
The Associated Press
Gaza’s fragile ceasefire faced its first major test Oct. 19 as Israeli forces launched a wave of deadly strikes, saying Hamas militants had killed two soldiers, and an Israeli security official said the transfer of aid into the territory was halted. The military later said it resumed enforcing the ceasefire, and the official confirmed that aid deliveries would resume Oct. 20.
Hegseth Announces Another US Strike on Alleged Drug Trafficking Boat
The Hill
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Oct. 20 announced there had been another U.S. strike on an alleged drug trafficking boat days prior. “On Oct. 17, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), a Designated Terrorist Organization, that was operating in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” Hegseth said in a post on the social platform X.
OPINION: Air Force Squadrons Are Closing—Reversing It Demands Investment
Defense News
“Sept. 23, 2025, is a milestone that highlights the U.S. Air Force’s capacity death spiral. On that day, the Maryland Air National Guard (ANG) inactivated the 104th Fighter Squadron, making Maryland the only state without an ANG flying unit. The reason is simple: For too many years, Air Force funding shortfalls have driven service leaders to retire more aircraft than they can replace through new acquisition,” writes Douglas A. Birkey, executive director for the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
Top Nuclear Weapons Agency to Furlough Most Staff amid Shutdown
POLITICO
The Trump administration is planning to furlough the vast majority of the civilian staff at a key agency that helps manage the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile, according to a notice obtained by POLITICO. The National Nuclear Security Administration, which falls under the Energy Department, will exhaust its available funding on Oct. 18, according to the notice NNSA sent to lawmakers.
Gen. Caine, Hegseth to Fly in Fighter Jets During Nevada Demonstration
The Washington Post
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Dan Caine has completed a check ride to again pilot the F-16 fighter jet and is set to be up in the air with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during a demonstration flight in Nevada on Oct. 19.
Drone Threats Ignite Burst of Counterdrone Wizardry
The Wall Street Journal
Startups from Silicon Valley to Europe and beyond are racing to develop cheap, reliable systems to counter hostile drones appearing over airports and global shipping lanes far from the battlefield in Ukraine. The systems explode, collide, fire pellets, jam radios, beam lasers, and even shoot nets like Spider-Man.
Army Looking to Field CCA-Like Capability Potentially in ‘Next Couple of Years’
Breaking Defense
The Army is looking to acquire a Collaborative Combat Aircraft-like capability that could be delivered to the service in as soon as a “couple of years,” according to a top Army aviation leader. “That has been a focus for the last … really year,” Brig. Gen. Cain Baker, director of the Future Vertical Lift Cross Functional Team, told reporters at the annual AUSA conference.
No Future for Space Futures Command, Sources Say
Breaking Defense
Space Force’s much-touted plan to create a new Futures Command is on the chopping block, and as of yet there is no formal plan for any replacement organization, according to a handful of sources inside and outside of the Pentagon. “Futures Command is dead,” one Pentagon official said bluntly.
China’s Huge ‘GJ-X’ Stealth Drone Appears to Have Been Spotted in the Air for the First Time
The War Zone
We are getting what could be our first look at China’s very large stealth ‘cranked kite’ flying-wing drone, unofficially dubbed the GJ-X, in flight.
Army to Test Next-Gen C2 Prototype for the Second Time Since July Contract Award
Defense One
A second field test of the Army’s next-generation command and control prototype starts Oct. 20, just three months after the Army awarded Anduril the contract to build it.
PODCAST: Back to the Future: The Origins of Homeland Air and Missile Defense
The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies
When the USSR gained atomic weapons early in the Cold War, the idea that the Soviets could strike American targets demanded a response. Robust air defense investments followed. With current adversary threats driving a renewed air and missile defense response via Golden Dome, it’s important to consider what past eras can teach us. Lessons learned are tremendously important. Mitchell Institute experts Brig. Gen. Houston “Slider” Cantwell, USAF (Ret.), Heather “Lucky” Penney, and Doug Birkey, explore the issue with Air Force air battle manager Lt. Col. Alex “Big Bobby” Wallis.
Senators Urge New Aviation Safety Proposals Informed by Fatal Collision near DCA
DefenseScoop
Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) moved to mandate comprehensive new safety reviews for all aircraft operations near DCA and at all major and mid-size U.S. airports, in a new bipartisan agreement that would also require fleets across the nation to be equipped with more precise situational awareness technology.
