Lockheed Martin has launched a prototyping hub to develop possible command-and-control solutions to be offered as a critical part of the Golden Dome homeland missile defense shield’s architecture, the company announced Aug. 5.
A sprawling missile defense conference kicked off Aug. 5 in Alabama, but no one on stage can mention the Pentagon’s most ambitious missile defense project. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office, according to the event’s organizers, has banned officials at the event from talking about President Donald Trump’s favorite weapon system: the nascent multibillion-dollar Golden Dome missile shield.
U.S. Space Command is amping up calls for new on-orbit mobility capabilities to allow satellites to dodge threats and even pursue enemy spacecraft—capabilities SPACECOM commander Gen. Stephen Whiting stressed are necessary to achieving “space superiority.”
The U.S. Army is planning to grow its air and missile defense force by 30 percent, according to the commander of the service’s Space and Missile Defense Command. In addition to adding three Patriot battalions equipped with the Lower-Tier Air-and-Missile Defense Sensor, or LTAMDS, radar, the service will also add five Indirect Fire Protection Capability battalions and seven Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems batteries, Lt. Gen. Sean Gainey said Aug. 5 at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium in Huntsville, Ala.
A fuel venting issue has emerged in some of the U.S. Air Force’s new F-15EX Eagle II fighters, which has reportedly left them sidelined. The root cause remains under investigation, but manufacturer Boeing is already testing multiple potential fixes.
Charleen Laughlin has moved from the Joint Staff to the Space Force to become the new deputy chief of space operations for cyber and data—a key role as the service pursues digital modernization.
Defense technology startup Anduril has become the third U.S. supplier of solid rocket motors, breaking into a market dominated by two defense primes, the company announced on Aug. 5.
Four European countries have agreed to buy $1 billion worth of U.S. weapons and send them to Ukraine under a new arrangement announced by President Trump last month. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed thanks for the assistance on social media.
The Navy flew a solar-powered, unmanned drone for 73 hours straight, recharging the plane’s batteries during the daytime on solar power to fly through night hours without coming back to earth.
