An artificial intelligence-powered mission-planning pod is slated to be the first capability deployed under the Air Force's Advanced Battle Management System concept, possible next year using technologies demonstrated in the series of combat experiments known as “on-ramps,” according to the Air Force’s top weapons buyer and the head of Air Mobility Command. The pod could ride on KC-46s or KC-135s as a way to give tanker planes a bigger combat role.

The Senate passed the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill 84-13 on Dec. 11 after a bumpy few weeks for the key annual legislation. “We must protect freedom, democracy and peace, and support our troops. This is the heart of the National Defense Authorization Act, and I look forward to it becoming law before the end of the year,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) said in a release. While both chambers of Congress have now approved the legislation, President Donald J. Trump must still sign off for it to become law.

The 115th Fighter Wing identified Capt. Durwood “Hawk” Jones, 37, as the F-16 pilot killed when his jet crashed in Michigan on Dec. 8. Jones, from Albuquerque, N.M., was flying a routine training mission when the F-16 crashed in the Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Wing Commander Col. Bart Van Roo said during a Dec. 11 press conference that the wing's flying operations are paused.

Exhausted by almost 20 years of nonstop combat against violent extremism, the Air Force is seeking a new cycle of modernization and refurbishment, Air Combat Command chief Gen. Mark D. Kelly said Dec. 11. The new construct would routinely change out old gear and modernize equipment, rather than allow a backlog of needed replacements to grow indefinitely. The Air Force wants a model that is easy to understand, as the Navy has managed to do, he said.

As the United States closes out its participation in the 1992 Open Skies Treaty, some in government are starting to consider what might come next for the Air Force unit that has handled those foreign surveillance flights for decades. Lawmakers earlier this month released a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on the fiscal 2021 defense policy bill, known as the National Defense Authorization Act. If enacted, that legislation and its accompanying instructions would tell the Air Force Secretary to study what other missions the OC-135Bs could take on.

The Air Force must make the mindset change from focusing just on preparation for conflict to day-to-day competition with Russia, China and other adversaries, Air Combat Command chief Gen. Mark D. Kelly said Dec. 11. The service will be constantly vying for superiority in the cyber realm and in situational awareness than it will be in kinetic conflict, and must adjust its thinking accordingly, Kelly said. He's given 16th Air Force the duty to lead this cultural shift. He also discussed what fourth-generation fighters need to stay relevant, and the need for dominance in the electromagnetic spectrum.

China’s nascent identity as a nuclear-capable power and Russia’s nuclear modernization plan underscore the continued need for America’s nuclear triad, the head of Air Force Global Strike Command said Dec. 10. “There's a myth out there that nukes are less relevant,” AFGSC boss Gen. Timothy M. Ray said in a pre-recorded keynote broadcast during the 20th Nuclear Triad Symposium, which was co-hosted by AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, the Louisiana Tech Research Institute, and the Cyber Innovation Center on Dec. 10. As global powers consider the future of nuclear arms-control agreements, Ray urged a combination of both modernization and pacts to keep the world safe.

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.