Kuwaiti F/A-18 Aircraft Suspected of Shooting Down US F-15s
Kuwaiti aircraft are suspected to be responsible for the shootdown of three U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles on March 2, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.
Promotion Rate for Senior Master Sergeant Dips for First Time in Five Years
The Air Force will promote 11.07 percent of eligible master sergeants to senior master sergeant this year, a decline from last cycle that snaps a four-year streak of increases. Out of a pool of 13,315 eligible individuals, 1,474 new E-8s were selected.
Space Force Officials Preparing for More Budget Growth in 2027
After years of describing to lawmakers and Pentagon leaders the nature of that threat and the key role spacepower plays in deterring conflict in the domain and enabling the rest of the joint force, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman told reporters during AFA’s Warfare Symposium here that the message appears to finally be taking hold.
Bombers Need Wider Range of Weapons: Panel
B-2 bombers dropped precision-guided bombs on Iranian targets this week, demonstrating the flexibility and utility of U.S. Air Force long-range strike capabilities. But not all weapons can be delivered by bombers, a fact Air Force leaders want to overcome as they develop next-generation aircraft and weapons.
Radar Sweep
Trump Claims America Can Fight ‘Forever,’ but Munitions Are Limited
Axios
President Trump's claim that America has a "virtually unlimited" munitions stockpile and could fight a war "forever," could soon be tested as counterattacks target military bases and U.S. Embassies across the Middle East in what has become a rapidly widening conflict.
More US Fighter Aircraft Heading to Middle East
The War Zone
Four days into Operation Epic Fury, the joint American-Israeli attack on Iran, the U.S. is moving more tactical jets to the Middle East. On March 3, additional F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters and F-15E Strike Eagle multirole fighters took off from Royal Air Force Lakenheath in the U.K, according to flight trackers and spotters.
Pentagon Identifies 4 Soldiers Killed by Iranian Attack
Task & Purpose
The Defense Department has identified four of the six service members who were killed over the weekend by an Iranian attack. All four Reserve soldiers were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command, based out of Des Moines, Iowa.
US Opens Military Action in Ecuador Against ‘Terrorist Organizations’
The New York Times
The United States and Ecuador conducted joint military operations against “designated terrorist organizations” in the South American country, the Pentagon said on March 3, in what appeared to be a major expansion of the U.S. military’s unilateral strikes against boats in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific that the Trump administration has accused of carrying drugs.
‘Strong and Clear, but Quiet’: Pentagon Policy Head Faces Senate Questions over NDS
Breaking Defense
Key members of the Senate Armed Services Committee took aim at the Pentagon’s new National Defense Strategy on March 3, when one of its architects, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby, appeared before the committee to defend it. The most notable criticisms came from Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., who specifically called the document out for numerous “flaws,” which, he said, ranged from not mentioning Taiwan in the document, to deemphasizing Europe, to simply not addressing US competitors working together.
Iran War Triggers Talk of Supplemental Defense Funding
Roll Call
Top lawmakers began weighing the potential need for an emergency defense spending package as they returned to Washington on March 2 for a briefing on the U.S. and Israeli military offensive against Iran. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters that the need for supplemental funding for munitions was “brought up in discussion” following a “Gang of Eight” briefing with Trump officials, as well as top lawmakers on the Armed Services, Foreign Relations, and Appropriations committees.
Commercial Data Centers Emerge as Targets in Modern Warfare After Drones Hit 3 AWS Facilities
DefenseScoop
Amazon Web Services is grappling with widespread service disruptions this week after drone strikes severely damaged three of the cloud provider’s data centers in the Middle East during a surge of intense military actions in the region.
How Tanking, Airlift Could Be Strained by Iran Ops
Breaking Defense
As U.S. armed forces grind through combat in Iran, some officials have raised concerns about America’s munitions stockpile. But experts warn that a perhaps less obvious constraint could emerge: logistics. The armed forces’ capacity for airlift and aerial refueling—predominantly provided by the Air Force—is hardly a new concern, most recently exemplified by strikes in the summer of 2025 aimed at Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Hermeus Flies Mk.2.1 Supersonic Demonstrator
Aviation Week
Atlanta-based aircraft developer Hermeus has successfully completed the first flight of its Pratt & Whitney F100-229-powered Quarterhorse Mk. 2.1 supersonic flight demonstrator at Spaceport America in New Mexico.
Israel Steps Up Airstrikes in Tehran, as Iran Widens Its Response Across the Region
The Associated Press
Israel said it launched airstrikes against Iranian missile launchers and a nuclear research site March 3, and Iran struck back against Israel and across the Gulf region, targeting U.S. embassies and disrupting energy supplies and travel.
Military Questioned Use of Makeshift Office Space in Kuwait Where US Troops Were Killed
CBS News
The first American service members to die in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran were killed in an apparent Iranian drone attack on a makeshift office space in Kuwait, three U.S. military officials with direct knowledge of Iran's attack told CBS News.
PODCAST: The New Space Race
The New York Times
We’re going back to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. That is, if Artemis II can get off the ground. Ross Douhat sat down with Jared Isaacman, the billionaire leading NASA, to hear his perspective on everything from extraterrestrial life to the timeline for sending humans to Mars.