Air Force researchers in October will test whether a software version of the service’s developmental weapons swarm can make its way through a combat mission and reroute itself as conditions change. The demonstration is part of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Golden Horde initiative, a high-profile project to create munition swarms that autonomously work together when fired and “think” on their own to attack targets that match criteria given to the software. “We’re actually going to be demonstrating digital twin-enabled operations ... where we’ll be using a software variant of a collaborative weapon flying out in a swarm mission, encountering some issues along the way that it did not expect, and collecting that data,” Craig Ewing of AFRL said during a Sept. 21 presentation on digital systems engineering in the Air Force.

USAF is exploring ways to make promotions less biased based on Air Force Specialty Codes and other demographics, Air Force Chief of Staff Charles Q. Brown Jr. told reporters on Sept. 16. “We started to look at how we bring folks in and open up the candidate pool in certain areas and look to see if there are biases that we have in our promotion system, biases in our accession systems, and biases in the testing that qualifies you for certain career fields … because some of those haven't changed in a long time,” he told reporters at AFA's virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference.

Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., will welcome its final Basic Military Training flight of 2020 in the last week of September, with graduation slated for before Thanksgiving, 2nd Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Andrea D. Tullos told reporters on Sept. 21. “We'll then take about 90 days to do an after-action and a reassessment of how that operation went, and we will have plans, if asked and if necessary, to resume BMT probably no earlier than February of next year,” she told said during an Air Education and Training Command conference call. The fiscal 2021 production targets that 2AF received from USAF aren't high enough to merit the use of two BMT locations next year, Tullos said, though she noted that “COVID gets a vote.”

The U.S. Space Force is leveraging what has been learned at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., and using the Air Force model as it works to determine how best to train space professionals going forward, Maj. Gen. DeAnna M. Burt, director of operations and communications for the Space Force, said during a panel discussion as part of AFA's virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference. “We talk about preparing for the future. I think it’s important that folks understand as we stand up the United States Space Force, all of that preparation is really steeped in training and culture, and foundationally, I think everyone understands that warfighting is warfighting. The kinematics and the domain may be different, but how we fight, and the doctrine, and the way we get offense and defense … are no different from one domain to the other,” she said, adding that what is needed to “fight and win” in space is a focus on the threat.

A tent city erected at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, on April 28 not only gave Air Education and Training Command “swing space” to ensure its Basic Military Training recruits and tech school students heeded COVID-19-era social distancing mandates, but it also gave the command a chance to make much-needed dorm repairs, AETC boss Lt. Gen. Marshall B. “Brad” Webb said Sept. 16. The system, which is slated to deactivate on Oct. 1, is on loan from Air Force Materiel Command and staffed by Airmen from the base's 433rd Airlift Wing and the Texas Air National Guard's 149th Fighter Wing. Since May 1, engineers from the 502nd Civil Engineer Squadron have performed “critical maintenance” on 11 buildings at Lackland, finished over 2,500 work orders, and resolved a maintenance backlog, Brig. Gen. Caroline M. Miller, commander of Joint Base San Antonio and the 502nd Air Base Wing, told Air Force Magazine on Sept. 18.

The Air Force and Rolls-Royce are finalizing a contract for new Virtual Reality Maintenance Training Software for the C-130J’s AE 2100 engines, giving Airmen the chance to virtually “break open” and train on power plants as opposed to working on an aircraft’s real engine. The software system, combined with off-the-shelf virtual reality headsets and computers, will first be provided to the 58th Maintenance Group at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., which flies HC-130Js and MC-130Js, according to a Rolls-Royce release. Currently, Airmen who want to train extensively on the AE 2100 need to go to a Rolls-Royce facility in Indianapolis and work with company representatives. A contract is expected to be finalized within the next few weeks. “We must transform the way we learn,” said Col. J.B. Baquet, commander of the 58th MXG, in a Rolls-Royce release. “The VR maintenance system will enhance training efficiency, shorten the learning curve, accelerate skill levels, and improve fleet readiness.”

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.