The Air Force is planning to replace the two squadrons of F-15C Eagle fighters it has stationed at Kadena Air Base in Japan with a rotational force of fighters. A source familiar with the situation, who asked not to be identified because the Pentagon hasn’t yet announced its plans, said the rotational force will be at least a short-term solution to replace the F-15Cs stationed on the Okinawa base as the older fighters are retired.
The United States has accelerated the fielding of a more accurate version of its mainstay nuclear bomb to NATO bases in Europe, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable and two people familiar with the issue. The arrival of the upgraded B61-12 air-dropped gravity bomb, originally slated for next spring, is now planned for this December, U.S. officials told NATO allies during a closed-door meeting in Brussels this month, the cable reveals.
The House of Representatives' Veterans' Affairs committee says veterans play a key role in domestic violent extremism and charges two key agencies to do more in addressing the problem. In a report, the congressional committee says “empirical evidence suggests that individuals with military backgrounds have become increasingly involved with violent extremist plots and attacks in recent years.” The report says data shows veterans were overrepresented in all domestic terror plots and attacks since 2015, as well as the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot.
Despite wanting to spend upwards of $2 billion in fiscal 2023 on various joint all-domain command and control (JADC2) initiatives and recently announcing a new office dedicated to synchronizing different efforts, the Pentagon and military services still haven’t been able to clearly say exactly what they’re trying to do with the effort, at least according to one service official’s blunt remarks.
On Oct. 31, the Supreme Court will hear a pair of cases that many legal experts expect will overturn the legal basis for affirmative action and, perhaps, upend how the military chooses its officers. The Army, Navy, and Air Force academies practice affirmative action—the policy of using race as a factor in admissions—to boost diversity, as do many colleges and universities that offer ROTC programs.
“The Supreme Court will soon consider ‘Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard/UNC.’ The court’s decision will determine whether our military’s future leadership will consist of the ‘best-qualified’ individuals instead of simply those ‘qualified’ as defined by an ever-moving standard meant to accommodate political and cultural goals. Affirmative action, in the form of racial preferences, pervades today’s military despite federal law that, if enforced, would prevent it. Section 601 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits racial ‘discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.’ Racial preferences in the military also violate our Constitution’s Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause,” writes retired Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman, a former Chief of Staff of the Air Force.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Oct. 27 denied having any intentions of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine but described the conflict there as part of alleged efforts by the West to secure its global domination, which he insisted are doomed to fail. Speaking at a conference of international foreign policy experts, Putin said it’s pointless for Russia to strike Ukraine with nuclear weapons.
A Russian official speaking at a United Nations meeting on outer space security criticized Western nations’ use of commercial satellites in military operations, adding fuel to previous declarations that Russia could target space networks operated by private companies. Konstantin Vorontsov, deputy director of the Russian foreign ministry’s department for non-proliferation and arms, called the West’s use of commercial satellites “an extremely dangerous trend that … has become apparent during the latest developments in Ukraine.”
When deploying into a conflict zone, it helps to have a winning hand. Good thing the Air Force’s 77th Fighter Squadron, also known as “The Gamblers,” just rolled into a new deployment bearing a four-of-a-kind, one of the best hands in poker, painted across the tail of one of its F-16 fighter jets. The Gamblers arrived at Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, after a long journey from their home at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., wrote U.S. Central Command in a Facebook post.