Air Combat Command on July 21 awarded three companies contracts worth up to $433.6 million to provide 5,418 annual sorties of adversary air support at five bases over the next four and a half years, a command spokesperson told Air Force Magazine. The contracts with Airborne Tactical Advantage Company, Tactical Air Support, and Draken International are the first to be awarded under the larger Combat Air Force/Contracted Air Support indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract, which is envisioned to eventually include 40,000 hours of adversary air and 10,000 hours of close air support training with a final price tag worth up to $6.4 billion.

Personnel at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, and Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates, briefly took cover after Iran launched ballistic missiles into the nearby Persian Gulf, which landed in the sea without incident on July 28, the U.S. military said this week. At about 5:30 a.m. local time, Iran launched missiles from within its borders as part of an ongoing exercise. An “initial assessment indicated a potential threat,” U.S. Central Command spokeswoman Maj. Beth Riordan said in a statement. “The incident lasted a matter of minutes, and an all-clear was declared after the threat indicator had passed,” Riordan said. “The safety and resilience of our service members and coalition partners is a top priority.”

Tracking and countering advanced cruise missiles developed by Russia and China needs to be a top priority for U.S. Northern Command, the nominee to lead the organization told lawmakers July 28. USAF Lt. Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, currently the director of the Joint Staff, said during his Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing that, if confirmed, his No. 1 job will be developing improved “domain awareness” to counter cruise missiles. The response highlights an ongoing effort within North American Aerospace Defense Command and the Air Force to test modern radar systems, and to update how it handles missile threats.

Army Lt. Gen. James H. Dickinson on July 28 outlined his plans to continue ingraining space operations expertise around the U.S. military, if confirmed as the next boss of U.S. Space Command. Dickinson, currently SPACECOM’s deputy commander, would be the first uniformed officer outside the Department of the Air Force to run the organization. SPACECOM oversees daily operations of military space assets like the GPS satellites and radars that warn of incoming ballistic missiles, which until recently have been Air Force missions. If confirmed, Dickinson would replace Gen. John W. Raymond, who also serves as the Space Force’s first chief of space operations.

The Air Force’s top installations official warned this week that defense budget constraints make it imperative that the service take a smarter approach to rebuilding facilities struck by natural disasters. Targeted investments and storm preparation procedures can help avoid continued, costly recovery efforts after hurricanes and floods like those that recently hit Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., Offutt Air Force Base, Okla., and JB Langley-Eustis, Va. “The doctrine in which we combat severe weather and combat severe weather threats is really no different than how we would combat a conventional adversary. We have to understand the adversary through intelligence, indications and warnings,” John W. Henderson, assistant Air Force secretary for installations, environment, and energy said July 28 during the online AFWERX Fusion conference.

Economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to undermine the growing U.S. commercial space sector and, potentially, U.S. space superiority, according to a new report by a panel of government experts released on July 28. Investors are pulling back to conserve cash at the very time this emerging industry needs it most, said Brig. Gen. Steven J. Butow, director of the space portfolio at the Defense Innovation Unit, who co-authored State of the Space Industrial Base 2020, with U.S. Space Force Chief Scientist Joel B. Mozer; Col. Eric J. Felt, director of the Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate; and Thomas W. Cooley, the directorate's chief scientist. The report goes well beyond the COVID-19 threat and includes 39 recommendations for government and industry to ensure a robust commercial space industrial base.

The official portrait of former Air Force Secretary Heather A. Wilson unveiled July 28 at a socially distant ceremony breaks with tradition: While it looks like an oil painting, it's the result of digital production, a special finishing technique, and an Airman's original photograph. The Air Force Association commissioned, paid for, and gifted the portrait, which is unique among the Air Force's Pentagon portraits in multiple ways.

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.