Editor’s Note
The Daily Report will not publish Monday, Oct. 13, in observance of Columbus Day. We’ll be back in your inboxes Tuesday, Oct. 14.
Air Force Must Increase Flying Hours, Invest in Spare Parts: CSAF Nominee Wilsbach
Air Force pilots are not flying enough, and the service must fix what has become a chronic issue and the myriad of factors that contribute to it, particularly a lack of spare parts, the nominee to become the next Chief of Staff of the Air Force told senators during his confirmation hearing Oct. 9.
Air Force Pilots Need More Flying Hours, Which Build Both Skill—and Loyalty
America's Air Force today is smaller and older than it was in my day, but what worries me more than size or age is just how ready we are to fly, fight, and win in a future war.
Wilsbach: F-15EX Delayed by Strike; Fourth-Gen Fighters Still Bring Value
Strikes at Boeing will delay deliveries of the F-15EX, Gen. Kenneth S. Wilsbach said before his Oct. 9 confirmation hearing. He also referred several times to the jet carrying hypersonic missiles and "very long range" weapons, indicating a rising mission for the jet.
Space Force Plans 2026 Competition for Commercial Satellites That Can Maneuver
The Space Force wants access to a fleet of small, maneuverable commercial satellites that can provide a range of services from geosynchronous orbit, chiefly satellite communications.
Radar Sweep
Military Charities Prepare for Surge in Cash Requests During Shutdown
Task & Purpose
The Army’s official charity has already approved more than $7 million in payments to Active-duty Soldiers and their families facing a missed paycheck next week amid the government shutdown. The Air Force’s designated charity says it has received hundreds of applications for help and has “several million in potential funds available” for Airmen and Space Force Guardians.
US Is Sending About 200 Troops to Israel to Help Support and Monitor the Gaza Ceasefire Deal
The Associated Press
The United States is sending about 200 troops to Israel to help support and monitor the ceasefire deal in Gaza as part of a team that includes partner nations, nongovernmental organizations, and private-sector players, U.S. officials said Oct. 9.
Get More F-35s in the Air and Don't Break the Bank, Senators Beg USAF Chief Nominee
Defense One
You need to fix alarming mission-capability rates and rising sustainment costs for the Air Force’s F-35A fighter jet, senators told the service’s Chief of Staff nominee on Oct. 9. “The F-35 remains the most advanced fighter in the world, but too many of them are sitting idle on ramps. The readiness rates of our aircraft continue to fall short of Pentagon goals. This is known on this side of the ocean and around the world,” Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, said.
Senate Votes to Repeal Middle East War Laws
POLITICO
A bipartisan Senate coalition voted to repeal a pair of decades-old laws that green lit U.S. military action in the Middle East. Senators, in a voice vote, adopted an amendment from Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) to the annual National Defense Authorization Act that would scrub the old war power laws passed in the run-up to the 1991 Gulf War and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
VIDEO: Going Deep on Australia and US’s Partnership in Space and Cyber
AFA
Australia is investing heavily in the space domain, recognizing its central role in combined operations with the United States and in securing the Indo-Pacific. Brigadier Christopher Gardiner, Space and Cyber Attaché at the Embassy of Australia in Washington, D.C., is working closely with the U.S. Space Force and U.S. Air Force to strengthen allied space and cyber partnerships.
Australian Space Command Considers ‘Space Control’ Options: Senior Officer
Breaking Defense
With the Australian Department of Defence working on an update to its 2024 National Defence Strategy, the country’s Space Command is considering its options for gaining “space control” capabilities, according to a senior military official.
Drone Parts Recovered from Iranian Proxy Group Attacks Trigger Latest US Blacklist of Chinese Companies
DefenseScoop
The U.S. government added 29 entries to its Entity List this week, including 16 located in China that were determined to be sourcing and supplying military drone parts to Iran and its proxies.
Qunnect Announces Air Force Contract for Quantum Networking over Conventional Fiber
Breaking Defense
New York City-based startup Qunnect has won an award from the Air Force Research Laboratory to refine its quantum networking technology, the company announced Oct. 9. Awarded in May for an undisclosed amount, the 18-month contract from AFRL is a notable vote of confidence from a US military lab in an idea that no less an authority than the National Security Agency publicly poo-pooed just five years ago: quantum communications.
Lumberjack Jet-Powered Modular Missile Eyed as Armament for XQ-58 Valkyrie Drones
The War Zone
Northrop Grumman has been doing detailed design work that lays a path to air-launching its Lumberjack loitering one-way attack drone from Kratos’ stealthy XQ-58 Valkyrie uncrewed aircraft. Multiple crewed and uncrewed aircraft are being eyed as potential platforms for employing Lumberjack, which is already being tested in surface-launched modes and will have the ability to drop its own smaller precision munitions.
These Military Moms Turned Their Homes into Day Cares. Then DOD’s Inspectors Came Knocking
The War Horse
At bases around the country, military leaders are leaning on spouses ... to open their own family child care homes that will offload pressure from understaffed on-base centers with long waitlists. Military moms are answering the call, lured by the triple promise of making good money, working from home, and being their own bosses. But Bardsley and dozens of other moms have a warning for them. The rules and regulations, well-meaning though they are, are out of control.
