Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. penned an op-ed for The Washington Post, writing, “When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the United States was no longer driven by the pressure of strategic competition with the Soviet Union, and we became the world’s lone superpower. In that role, we faced an unrelenting series of challenges after 9/11, while China and Russia upgraded their militaries in menacing ways—building new technologies in space, in cyberspace, on land, at sea, and in the air. Now, as my service’s senior uniformed officer, I have evaluated the Air Force’s need to rapidly pivot to address these security challenges—and published a strategic approach whose title embodies our imperative: ‘Accelerate Change or Lose.’”
When U.S. Central Command authorizes strikes against groups such as ISIS-K or al-Qaida in Afghanistan, the command won’t be negotiating with the Taliban about where and when it can drop bombs. While the U.S. generally negotiates agreements with countries where it conducts strikes, the Pentagon considers Afghanistan essentially a free space following the collapse of its elected government in August.
Blue Origin, Rocket Lab, SpaceX, and United Launch Alliance were selected to participate in technology development projects to advance rocket engine testing and launch vehicle upper stages, Space Force Space Systems Command announced Sept. 24. The awards made by the Space Enterprise Consortium are for prototypes that will be jointly funded by the government and the contractors under partnerships known as OTAs, for other transaction authority.
In episode 41 of the Mitchell Institute’s Aerospace Advantage podcast, the team delves into the realm of public opinion regarding one of the most consequential aspects of U.S. national security—nuclear modernization. It’s crucial to know where the public stands on this issue given that all segments of the nuclear triad are set for modernization. The Mitchell Institute, in collaboration with Seven Letter Insight, conducted a survey to better understand these dynamics. The results were both surprising and illuminating.
New guidance from the Biden administration Sept. 24 says covered federal contractors and subcontractors must be vaccinated against COVID-19 and show proof of it by Dec. 8 unless they are granted an exemption. President Biden on Sept. 9 announced a vaccine mandate for federal employees and contractors. The executive order for contractors outlined which contractors were covered and the process leading up to implementation but was light on other details and left contracting experts with a number of questions.
China is set to debut its dedicated electronic-attack aircraft on public display at the upcoming Zhuhai airshow, giving observers a first look at the newly developed type. A single example of the type, which is officially designated the Shenyang J-16D, has been parked at the static display area of the airshow in Guangdong Province ahead of the event, which is due to run from Sept. 28 to Oct. 3 next to the city’s airport.
Cloud technologies are accelerating change at every level of the Air Force—and the Space Force. Whether it's pure computational power to enable autonomy or advanced encryption to ensure mission-grade security, the future of IT is here and now.
New evidence adds to the growing body of supply chain concerns that the Defense Department’s pharmaceutical pipeline is in danger. A new report from the DOD Inspector General found that the Defense Logistics Agency deemed its reliance on foreign suppliers of drugs a risk in 2019, however, it did not develop any strategies to mitigate the risk or routinely monitor what country it was buying drugs from for risks.
Three Russian fighter jets scrambled to escort a U.S. Air Force plane over the Pacific Ocean after it reportedly approached Russian airspace, the National Defense Command Center said. Three Russian Sukhoi-35S fighters escorted a U.S. B-52H strategic bomber after air radars in the Eastern Military Region identified an air target approaching Russian airspace over the Pacific Ocean, Russian state news agency TASS reported.
When he was serving in Iraq as an Air Force emergency physician, Dr. Craig Goolsby saw some horrific injuries—war wounds he could not imagine anyone surviving. But many of his patients came in wearing tourniquets, simple band-and-bar contraptions put on by another Soldier, Sailor, Marine, or Airman, that stopped them from bleeding out. The lessons learned in combat since 9/11 inspired a nationwide "Stop the Bleed" campaign, launched by the White House in 2015, to teach more Americans how to apply tourniquets in emergency situations.