The U.S. is poised to approve sending a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine, finally agreeing to an urgent request from Ukrainian leaders desperate for more robust weapons to shoot down incoming Russian missiles, U.S. officials said Dec. 13. The approval is likely to come later this week and could be announced as early as Dec. 15, said three officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision is not final and has not been made public. Two of the officials said the Patriot will come from Pentagon stocks and be moved from another country overseas.
The Air Force Honor Guard, the outward facing group of service members whose mission is to represent the ideal airmen to the American public, has started allowing those with shaving waivers to sport beards. This past April, the Honor Guard changed its policy to begin allowing those with shaving waivers for medical and religious reasons to apply and join, reversing a long-standing clean-shaven standard. Since the policy took effect, 21 out of the total 271 airmen have a pass to grow beards, according to the 11th Wing at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C.
While the geopolitical relationship between China and the U.S. and its allies is increasingly fraught, there remains hope among current and former government officials that it may be possible to engage Beijing on space exploration and resource exploitation to help avoid future conflicts. One potential lever for outreach could be the Artemis Accords, a set of voluntary norms for responsible behavior in civil space activities on and around the Moon, Mars and mineral-rich asteroids, according to U.S. and allied diplomats and space policy experts attending a Secure World Foundation conference on Dec. 12.
Call it the KC-17. On Dec. 2, a C-17 Globemaster III refueled a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber on the ground for the first time—the latest test of the cargo jet’s versatility. The experiment was a milestone for the bomber as well, expanding its ability to hopscotch around the globe. “What happens when you need fuel but there’s no air refueling available? Call us,” Joint Base Charleston, S.C., said on Twitter.
The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies is pleased to announce that retired Lt. Gen. David Deptula, USAF, Dean of the Mitchell Institute, now holds the PenFed Chair for Aerospace Studies. This Chair was established to support the mission of the Mitchell Institute as it works to inform national leaders and the public at large about the unique policy options that airpower and space power afford the country.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on Dec. 13 introduced bipartisan legislation that would ban the popular app TikTok from operating within the United States over national security concerns. Rubio’s bill—the Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party, or ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act—already has bipartisan support in the House, with Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., authoring companion legislation.
Several U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drones have found a new base in the newly upgraded Larissa air base in Greece, as American military officials keep an eye on NATO’s southern and eastern borders. Work on the base near the eastern shores of the Aegean Sea proceeded during much of 2022. It was slated to include new maintenance shelters, ramps and taxiway extensions, with a local construction contract for $21 million due to finish in recent weeks.
“The U.S. Space Force is in the process of defining the framework for Phase 3 of the National Security Space Launch program (NSSL). The follow-on from the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program, NSSL ensures that the Department of Defense has access to launch services to put the most critical military and intelligence collection assets into orbit—assets like GPS, space-based early warning, and other classified payloads. The decisions that will shape Phase 3 are being made against an evolving geopolitical and commercial landscape, which are critical considerations for ensuring the United States has the launch services it needs now and in the future,” writes Joshua Huminski, director of the national security space program at the Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress.
Back in March, during a period of frenzied air combat over Ukraine, The War Zone conducted an exclusive interview with a Ukrainian MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jet pilot, known only by his callsign “Juice.” In the nine months or so that have passed, the nature of the air war over Ukraine has changed in significant ways, including the appearance of new weapons and tactics on the Russian side and a widespread campaign of attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure targets. But the Ukrainian Air Force has remained resolute in its defense of its homeland, despite not yet receiving the new fighter jets that it clearly needs. We caught up again with Juice to assess what’s happening in the air war today and to look at prospects for new equipment in the future.
The Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman (SEAC) Ramón “CZ” Colón-López, has a lot on his plate. He’s spent a long career as a pararescueman in the Air Force’s special operations community, and he currently serves as the most senior enlisted member in the armed forces advising Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley—essentially advising the senior military leader on all matters related to the enlisted ranks. He also happened to have a few minutes to answer some questions that only a veteran would ask while attending the 2022 Army-Navy game in Philadelphia.