Breaking Defense
The Air Force’s hopes for buying its first hypersonic missiles this year appear to be dead, with congressional appropriators halving funding for the service’s flagship hypersonic weapons program in the new fiscal 2022 omnibus spending bill. The Air Force had requested about $161 million in the fiscal ’22 budget request to buy the first 12 AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon missiles from manufacturer Lockheed Martin. However, the spending bill cuts about $80 million of that total, stating that procurement of the new weapon is early to need.
Airforce-technology
Iran has placed a second military satellite into orbit amid ongoing talks that seek to revive a previous nuclear deal between Tehran and major Western powers. According to the local Tasnim news agency, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Aerospace Force launched the Noor-II satellite into a low Earth orbit. The “homegrown” satellite was launched using a Qased rocket. The three-stage Qased carried the satellite from a launch pad in Shahroud, Iran.
NextGov
New bipartisan legislation focused on providing cellular and internet connectivity in war zones was unveiled as U.S. lawmakers continue to respond to Russia’s war on Ukraine. Sponsored by Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) the Safely Accessing Telecommunications Act would allow the U.S. Departments of Defense and State to contract telecommunications companies to help provide internet and broadband access to regions in conflict.
SpaceNews
Pentagon funding for space programs will grow in the coming years as the U.S. military increasingly relies on satellites to conduct operations, the Defense Department’s comptroller Mike McCord said. DOD has not yet released its funding request for fiscal 2023, so McCord could not discuss specifics. During a wide-ranging talk on the military’s budget priorities, he noted that DOD is making space capabilities a higher priority, “whether it’s versus China, versus Russia, or anybody else.”
Defense One
"If there is to be any future for the Ukrainian nation, the West must act immediately to establish a peacekeeping and humanitarian relief zone in unoccupied western Ukraine. This 'Zone of Peace' would be maintained by fully armed troops, either from NATO, the EU’s “Defence Forces of the European Union,” or—although a difficult aspiration—a coalition of non-European states ostensibly under United Nations General Assembly authority. The zone would be intended to both protect civilians and preserve a semblance of independence for the Ukrainian people. If requested by President Zelenskyy, such an action would be in full accordance with international law,” writes Sam J. Tangredi, director of the Institute for Future Warfare Studies at the Naval War College.
Signal Magazine
In the rush to implement national security use cases for artificial intelligence and machine learning, policymakers need to ensure they are properly weighing the risks, say experts in the field. Like all software, artificial intelligence is vulnerable to hacking. But because of the way it has to be trained, AI is even more susceptible than most software—it can be successfully attacked even without access to the computer network it runs on.
Air Force Magazine
Recent Russian and Chinese missile launches raised the stakes in space. Find out the latest news on sensing, tracking, and defending against enemy missile strikes.
C4ISRNet
The Space Development Agency is poised for a $550 million funding boost in the compromise defense budget bill that would accelerate plans to provide a missile warning and tracking capability for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. However, the increase is $200 million short of previous proposals, and it’s not clear whether that reduction will require a change to the agency’s plan to launch at least 28 wide- and medium-field-of-view satellites as part of its Tranche 1 Tracking Layer (T1TL).
Defense News
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency successfully launched the most advanced version of the Patriot missile from a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in a Feb. 24 test at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., Lockheed Martin told Defense News. The Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhanced—or PAC-3 MSE—was fired using the THAAD system against a simulated incoming target.
GovConWire
The Air Force has chosen Lockheed Martin to replace a tactical ground-based radar system used to carry out airspace defense operations. USAF said it will exercise an option of a previously awarded contract to procure the company’s AN/TPY-4(V)1 technology for the Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar production effort through the “SpeedDealer” middle-tier acquisition approach.
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Aviation Week
A Space Force mission slated to launch aboard United Launch Alliance’s next Atlas V has been delayed at the customer’s request, the company said March 9. Launch services for the mission, designated USSF-12, were awarded to ULA in March 2018.
One More Thing
Task & Purpose
Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, born Nov. 26, 1832, in Oswego, N.Y., was intent on breaking stereotypes for women almost from the very beginning. Her parents were abolitionists and “encouraged her to think freely,” the National Women’s History Museum says. She regularly wore men’s trousers and collared shirts, Sharon Harris, author of “Dr. Mary Walker: An American Radical, 1832-1919,” told NBC News. When the Civil War broke out, Walker attempted to join the Army as a medical officer, according to NPR, but was rejected immediately—by the Secretary of War himself.
