Air Force to Train Weapon System Officers to Fly B-21s
The Air Force has officially decided the B-21 Raider will fly with a two-pilot air crew—and it may draw from the ranks of weapon system and combat systems officers to fill those roles.
Space Force’s New C2 System to Get Key Upgrades in 2027
The Space Force is eyeing three key upgrades next year to its next-generation command-and-control system that will make it easier for allies to share space domain awareness data and improve collaboration and training for operators.
Air Force and DIU Want Cheap Drones to Take on MQ-9 Missions
The Pentagon is looking for industry’s ideas for lower-cost, attritable drones that can fly in groups and take on some of the missions that MQ-9A Reapers have performed.
Space Force Finalizes New Acquisition Structure, Names 9 Portfolio Executives
The Space Force has finalized a major reorganization of its acquisition structure, creating nine mission area-focused portfolio acquisition executives with broad authority over the service’s development and procurement programs.
Radar Sweep
US and Iran Exchange Intensifying Fire Across Mideast, Threatening Ceasefire Deal
The Associated Press
The United States launched new airstrikes against Iran early July 9, and Tehran responded by targeting U.S.-allied Mideast countries in an exchange of fire that threatened an interim deal intended to help end the war in the Middle East.
Pentagon Seeks to Shift $4.3B to Pay for Increasing Operation and Personnel Costs
Breaking Defense
The Pentagon is planning to reroute roughly $4.3 billion from fiscal 2026 coffers in order to pay for “higher priority items,” including increased personnel and operational costs around the globe, the department told lawmakers in a new reprogramming notification.
Ukraine’s Drones Are Now Reaching Siberia and Imperiling Russian Energy Assets
The Wall Street Journal
Several Ukrainian drones circled over Russia’s largest refinery on July 6 and then, one after another, slammed into its crude distillation unit, engulfing the facility in fireballs and clouds of smoke. There was no air defense to speak of because Russian authorities had assumed that the refinery, in the Siberian city of Omsk, was too far from Ukraine to be imperiled.
Pentagon Awards Deals for Laser Weapons That Could Shoot Down Drone Swarms
DefenseScoop
The Defense Department has awarded other transaction agreements to nLIGHT Defense and Lockheed Martin Aculight for directed energy weapons as the military seeks new tools for zapping adversary drone swarms and cruise missiles, the Pentagon announced July 9.
Top Legal Adviser to Joint Chiefs Is Stepping Down Nearly a Year Before Completing Term
ProPublica
The senior legal counsel to the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff—the principal military adviser to President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth—is stepping down nearly a year before his term is over, the latest in an exodus of the military’s top leaders and lawyers over the last 18 months. Brig. Gen. Eric Widmar told ProPublica he did not take his decision to retire lightly and that he did so “for personal reasons.”
Why Does the F-47’s Design Look So Different Than What Many Expected?
The War Zone
uch discussion and debate continue to surround a video said to have been taken near Area 51 that went viral after it was released last month. The footage shows an exotic aircraft that still looks likely to be a progenitor of Boeing’s F-47 sixth-generation fighter for the U.S. Air Force. Its apparent design, with a long shovel-like nose, large canards, and rear-set swept wings, is much different from the tailless, modified delta-winged heavy fighter that many were expecting to come out of the Next-Generation Air Dominance program.
UK Eyes $50 Billion in Pooled NATO Funds for New Long-Range Strike Initiative
Defense News
The United Kingdom unveiled a $50 billion, decadelong push to accelerate European deep precision strike capabilities during the NATO summit on July 8, positioning London at the head of a coalition of 12 NATO allies.
NATO Upgrades Baltic Air Policing Mission to Air Defense
Reuters
NATO has agreed to upgrade its decades-old Baltic air policing mission into air defense, giving pilots a wider mandate, including destroying "objects that pose a threat", Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said on July 8.
White House Says Trump’s Air Force One Switch Was a ‘Misdirection’
The Hill
The White House on July 9 defended the new retrofitted Air Force One as safe and secure after reports emerged indicating President Trump switched to the older model to leave Turkey out of an abundance of caution.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds Orders Flags at Half-Staff in Honor of late US Air Force Maj. Brad Hovey
KCCI
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has ordered all flags in Iowa to fly at half-staff from sunrise Friday, July 10, until sunset Friday, July 17, in honor of late U.S. Air Force Maj. Brad Hovey. Hovey, 35, was one of the eight men killed in June's B-52 crash during a test flight at California's Edwards Air Force Base.