China is limiting the flow of critical minerals to Western defense manufacturers, delaying production and forcing companies to scour the world for stockpiles of the minerals needed to make everything from bullets to jet fighters.
In this episode, Heather “Lucky” Penney talks to Lt. Gen. David Deptula, USAF (Ret.), Jen Reeves, and Anthony “Lazer” Lazarski about the top defense issues this month in Washington, D.C. and beyond. This includes a discussion on spacepower policy and investment decisions, plus a focus on fighter recapitalization and E-7. The team also discusses recent Air Force and Space Force leadership changes and wrap by explaining the significance of the latest X-37B mission as well as the Space Force practicing ‘orbital warfare’ in its largest-ever training event.
Several thousand workers at three Midwest manufacturing plants where Boeing develops military aircraft and weapons went on strike early Aug. 4, potentially complicating the aerospace company’s progress in regaining its financial footing.
“Over the past 14 years, China has rapidly modernized its air force, replacing its operational fleet with high-performance, technologically advanced aircraft. Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force is receding further into a decadeslong slump of being the oldest, smallest and least ready in its history. To reverse this downward spiral and reestablish credible deterrence, the United States must embark on a Reagan-era-style rebuild of its Air Force. Buying at least 72 F-35A aircraft per year is the fastest, smartest way to do so,” writes JV Venable, a retired Air Force colonel and senior fellow at AFA's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
Anew commission has been established to chart a path toward developing an independent Cyber Force for the U.S. military. The commission was started by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in partnership with the Cyber Solarium Commission 2.0 project at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
The Army is planning to grow its operational Patriot air-and-missile defense force from 15 to 18 battalions, plus a composite battalion which includes Patriot capability in Guam, an Army spokesperson told Defense News in a statement.
Recently emerged imagery largely confirms that China is now test-flying another tailless stealthy combat jet, although it isn’t clear if this is a crewed design or one of its new advanced drones.
A U.S. security forces Airman at RAF Lakenheath in England died early Aug. 3 in an on-base vehicle accident, the base said. A spokesman for the base said Airman 1st Class Immanuel Arrington Jr., 20, died in a crash that was not related to his duty. The accident took place at about 2 a.m.
More than a year before the Dec. 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor attack, Britain’s Royal Navy gave the world a preview of the future of warfare when carrier-based torpedo-bombers launched a surprise attack on the Italian navy, damaging and destroying several vessels. Now, Ukraine and Israel have both shown that small drones launched from behind enemy lines have the potential to devastate an adversary’s most valuable weapons systems.
The E-7 Wedgetail has made headlines this summer as voices in the Pentagon and the DOD's budget request have placed it on the chopping block. This has created a national controversy. The E-7 is generations beyond current airborne early warning and control capabilities, and provides an airborne complement to the space-based moving target indicators of the future—and that's not even considering the repercussions of cancelling this critical program. Let's break down why our national defense needs the Wedgetail.
