The Air and Space Forces over the past year have been picking up the pace of their multitiered research initiative aimed at developing an unusual idea seemingly straight from science fiction: the capability to rapidly deliver cargo into global hot zones by launching it through space.
In an unprecedented move, the Defense Department has agreed to give SpaceX exclusive access to the government’s most classified space tracking data, according to a dozen government and industry sources. One of the sources, a Space Force official, told Breaking Defense a “contractual agreement” has been signed between SpaceX and the Space Force’s Joint Commercial Operations Cell, trading company access to U.S. Space Command’s most detailed version of its High Accuracy Catalog of on-orbit objects in exchange for SpaceX giving the JCO data from its Stargaze star-tracking cameras.
Of the 1.7 million personnel who use the Defense Department’s enterprise AI platform, approximately 500,000 are using it heavily, according to a senior Pentagon official. The department first introduced its GenAI.mil platform for service members, DOD civilians, and contractors in December to provide access to commercial tools that can assist with back-office functions and other tasks.
In early 2026, the U.S. Air Force announced a new deployment construct designed to meet global needs while providing more predictability to its own forces. The plan, known as the Air Expeditionary Wing 2.0, was not enough to generate forces for the conflict with Iran. Now, the service’s top officer says some units will have longer deployments as the Air Force looks to reset into the new model once the conflict ends.
China’s Chengdu Aircraft Corporation continues to press ahead with the development of its ‘J-36’ next-generation tailless heavy tactical jet. Recent flight testing has offered interesting new views of the still-evolving stealthy design from the top and behind, prompting discussion about the aircraft’s features.
U.S. Northern Command’s fourth iteration of its large-scale Falcon Peak exercise is designed to demonstrate, refine, and connect capabilities that counter small, hostile drones in desert terrains, and for the first time, those threatening America along the southern border.
This summer, when the U.S. and Iran signed a temporary truce, China touted its role in easing tensions in the Middle East. It said its foreign ministry made dozens of calls to nudge peace along, and that President Xi Jinping himself had intervened with suggestions to end the fighting. That same day, a plane from China landed in Tehran. It carried a shipment for Iran’s Ministry of Defense that included electronics components that can be used to make parts for drones and missile guidance systems, according to Iranian customs data analyzed by The Wall Street Journal.
“For decades, the metric used to measure fighter capacity has been an accounting standard known as Primary Mission Aircraft Inventory. It dictates funding, flying hours and manning, but crucially excludes backup and attrition reserve aircraft. It measures only what we can afford to operate during routine training outside conflict. To adequately capture our warfighting capability, we must look at the entire combat-coded inventory,” writes Lt. Gen. David H. Tabor, Air Force deputy chief of staff for plans and programs.
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Washington on Sept. 23, where he was met with a rare planeside greeting from President Donald Trump after their top officials agreed to extend a trade truce until January.
NATO military aircraft were deployed in Polish and Romanian airspace overnight and on the morning of Sept. 23, in response to the latest wave of Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, officials in both allied nations said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on U.S. President Donald Trump to organize a trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying the world leaders need to move “as quickly as possible” to bring an end to the war.
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman has left something of a mystery hanging in the air after showing the silhouette of an aircraft that immediately drew comparisons to the famed SR-71 Blackbird during a recent speech. Isaacman pushed back on a direct link to the SR-71, but said his agency is working hard to get “back in the business of flying high and fast again.”
