The Air Force is relying on testing early and often to curb the new coronavirus's spread at Basic Military Training, even as the majority of recruits who test positive are asymptomatic. About 200 Airmen in BMT have tested positive for the coronavirus in the past four months, totaling around 2 percent of the Air Force's BMT recruits, 2nd Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Andrea D. Tullos said. Sixty percent of those who tested positive showed no symptoms while infected, a staggering number compared to the Army, which reported just 1.8 percent of asymptomatic cases among basic combat trainees. All infected Airmen have returned to training without needing hospitalization.

An undisclosed number of Air Force Academy cadets who went back to campus over the summer—including some from the class of 2024—have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the school confirmed to Air Force Magazine on July 8. If any cadets test positive for or show symptoms of COVID-19, or if they had contact with someone carrying the virus, USAFA responds in accordance with the academy's quarantine and isolation plan, “with guidance from our public health professionals,” USAFA spokesperson Mike Slater said. “We expected positive cases and are carrying out our plan,” he said. Details of the plan were not releasable by press time. However, a request for proposals issued by the school on July 6—which was first reported by the Colorado Springs Indy—suggests that the plan may involve moving some Cadets to area hotels in order to create more social distance within living spaces.

U.S. Southern Command has seized more than 122 tons of cocaine since April as America uses more surveillance aircraft to crack down on regional counternarcotics operations, Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper said July 10. The federal government has deployed 75 percent more intelligence-collection and target-tracking planes, like the Air Force E-3 AWACS, E-8C Joint STARS, and MC-12 Liberty, to SOUTHCOM in the past three months than it has in typical drug interdiction missions. They are accompanied by 65 percent more Navy and Coast Guard ships than normally participate in drug busts, Esper said during a visit to SOUTHCOM headquarters in Florida with President Donald J. Trump.

Japan has gotten a green light from the State Department to buy 105 more F-35s in two variants, which will make that country the largest operator of the Lightning II outside the U.S. The news comes the same week Japan's defense ministry informed the country's legislature that it will move ahead with its own “sixth generation” fighter, which bears a strong resemblance to the Air Force F-22.

The Air Force's first batch of engines for the F-15EX will number 19 powerplants; 16 installs and three spares, Air Force Materiel Command said. The number of engines was withheld when the engine contract to General Electric was announced last month. The three spares constitute a 20 percent spare factor, which is lower than in previous F-15 buys due to increasing engine reliability.

The Pentagon is expected to name the acting undersecretary of defense for research and engineering as early as July 13, with the department’s current director of defense, research, and engineering for modernization to perform the duties in the interim. Michael D. Griffin, who held the position since December 2017, stepped down, with his last day in the Pentagon on July 10. For now, Mark J. Lewis will be “performing the duties of” the undersecretary, but will not be “acting,” a Pentagon spokesman said.

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.