An F-35A from the 58th Fighter Squadron crash-landed late May 19 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., according to the 33rd Fighter Wing. The pilot safely ejected. The crash marks Eglin's second recent fifth-generation jet mishap, following the May 15 crash of an F-22 assigned to the base. The F-35A crashed around 9:30 p.m. after a routine night training sortie, the fighter wing said on Facebook. The pilot was in stable condition and went to Eglin's 96th Medical Group for evaluation and monitoring. No civilian property was damaged in the crash, which will be formally investigated.

The Air Force wants to add more Airmen for space, sensing, command and control, and logistics, if upcoming military budgets let the service grow, Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Stephen “Seve” Wilson said May 20. Wilson also said plans for a larger bomber force will firm up within a year, that the other services will have to justify their long-range strike spending, and that he is cautiously optimistic that mission-capable rates or similar readiness measures will continue to improve. Speaking during an online Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event, Wilson said the service plans to focus on staffing the most urgent areas first as it builds toward 386 operational squadrons—the so-called “Force We Need."

Space stakeholders are moving forward with a new plan for missile defense, warning, and tracking after a Pentagon-wide review meant to align the work of multiple DOD agencies. Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. Jay Raymond told reporters during a May 20 Defense Writers Group event that officials briefed the high-level Joint Requirements Oversight Council on the findings a few weeks ago. The JROC approved the bulk of that blueprint, Raymond said. The idea is to figure out who takes responsibility for the overall missile defense enterprise, decide what overlap works and what doesn’t, and how to buy the various systems.

Military commanders may begin lowering health protection conditions and returning to more regular operations if their location meets certain criteria, like a two-week downturn in the number of coronavirus cases, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in May 20 guidance to the armed forces. Most U.S. military installations across the globe have been at health protection condition “Charlie,” the second-highest level, as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads.

The Air Force has released its final request for proposals on the B-52 Commercial Engine Replacement Program, which seeks to replace the bomber's 1960s' vintage engines with new ones that will carry the plane to its 2050s retirement. The Air Force wants responses next month, expects to award a contract in a year, and will be converting airplanes well into the 2030s.

The Air Force is getting its Skyborg wingman drone program underway, reaching out to industry for technology that could head to a future experimentation campaign. Multiple companies could each win $400 million to contribute technology toward a best-of-breed Skyborg drone, the service said in a May 15 solicitation. Skyborg is envisioned as an artificially intelligent unmanned partner for fighter jets that is cheaper than more complex aircraft but can take on some strike and intelligence-collection missions for human pilots. The Air Force indicated that companies whose designs aren’t initially chosen could still be wrapped into the program later. It also creates a stepping stone to a more advanced kind of aircraft: Later solicitations could look for a “prototype of a full autonomous system” as well as new sensors and mission software.

New opportunities will open up for intelligence Airmen who opt to join the Space Force, intel officials said on a recent livestream. The Space Force is considering how Airmen could work in multiple career fields to broaden their understanding of the space domain, according to Col. Suzy Streeter, the service’s ISR director. Building the new service from scratch allows it to shake up its leadership echelons and let intel professionals hold command positions usually taken by the Airmen who operate satellites, U.S. Space Command intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance boss Brig. Gen. Leah Lauderback added.

B-1Bs from Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., integrated with Swedish Gripens for the first time during a long-distance bomber task force sortie to Europe that included fighter jets from multiple allied countries. The two B-1s, supported by a U.S. Air Force KC-135 from RAF Mildenhall, England, and a Dutch KDC-10 from Royal Netherlands Air Force Eindhoven Air Base, conducted close-air support training in Sweden at Vidsel Range, according to a U.S. Air Forces in Europe release.

The Air Force has launched its competition for engines to power the F-15EX, after initial plans to simply award the contract to GE Aviation. The AIr Force wants 461 engines to be delivered at a maximum rate of six per month, ending with final deliveries in 2030. To compete, Pratt & Whitney will have to integrate its F100 powerplant with the F-15EX's digital flight control systems.

On March 23, the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies will host a virtual Nuclear Deterrence Series event featuring Scowcroft Group Principal Frank Miller. At a time when nuclear modernization programs are accelerating around the world, proposals to recapitalize the U.S. nuclear arsenal are at the forefront of debates over defense spending. Miller will share his insights into the prospects for U.S. nuclear modernization programs and the value of nuclear deterrence in today's competitive security environment. The think tank will post event video on its website and YouTube page after the live event.