The Air Force is soliciting industry feedback on “innovative” technologies and capabilities for its planned tanker of the future, with an eye toward getting it into service by 2040. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center on Jan. 31 issued a request for information on the Next Generation Air-refueling System (NGAS) project, commonly known as KC-Z, explaining that the new tanker is the “third of three increments to the Air Force tanker recapitalization plan, following increment 1 (represented by the KC-46 program) and increment 2 (known as KC-Y or ‘bridge tanker’).”
President Biden’s brusque refusal to fulfill Ukraine’s request for F-16 jets has been greeted with skepticism at the Pentagon, where some officials, citing the administration’s pattern of reversal after first rejecting other pleas from Kyiv, foresee eventual approval or a scenario where American allies provide the aircraft with administration approval. The conjecture among U.S. defense officials follows the commander in chief’s one-word response on Jan. 30 when a reporter asked outside the White House if he would send F-16s to Ukraine. “No,” Biden replied.
Britain’s top airman says he wants the Royal Air Force to restore the number of airborne early warning aircraft it originally planned to acquire before the number of platforms was reduced to save money in a government defense review. Officials reduced an order with Boeing for five E-7 Wedgetail aircraft to just three in the course of a wholesale review of British defense and foreign policy in March 2021.
“The war in Ukraine made plain several well-known challenges with precision weapons: they are expensive, rely on complicated supply chains, and take time to build. With Russia’s invasion stretching into its second year and military leaders warning of a looming war with China, analysts, Congress, and defense officials are all arguing for dramatically increased spending on the sophisticated long-range missiles needed for war in the Indo-Pacific. This is a failure of both analysis and imagination by the world’s largest and most expensive defense establishment.” writes Bryan Clark, director of the Hudson Institute Center for Defense Concepts and Technology.
Ukrainian forces are unlikely to be able to recapture Crimea from Russian troops in the near future, four senior Defense Department officials told House Armed Services Committee lawmakers in a classified briefing. The assessment is sure to frustrate leaders in Kyiv who consider taking the peninsula back one of their signature goals. It’s unclear what led the briefers to that assessment. But the clear indication, as relayed by three people with direct knowledge of Jan. 26 briefing’s contents, was that the Pentagon doesn’t believe Ukraine has—or soon will have—the ability to force Russian troops out of the peninsula Moscow seized nearly a decade ago.
Taiwan scrambled fighter jets, put its navy on alert, and activated missile systems in response to nearby operations by 34 Chinese military aircraft and nine warships that are part Beijing’s strategy to unsettle and intimidate the self-governing island democracy. The large-scale Chinese deployment came as Beijing increases preparations for a potential blockade or military action against Taiwan that have stirred increasing concern among military leaders, diplomats, and elected officials in the U.S., Taiwan’s key ally.
Influential lawmakers from both parties urged the Defense secretary in a letter Jan. 31 to curtail the department’s submission to Congress of “unfunded priorities lists”—annual requests for billions of dollars in military spending above White House budget proposals. “The Department of Defense must show taxpayers that it is a responsible steward of its funds,” wrote four senators and two representatives in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III that was obtained by CQ Roll Call. “That must begin with eliminating the practice of sending Congress bloated wish lists for additional funds on top of its core budget submissions.”
The Space Development Agency is planning a new procurement of 72 satellites to continue to build out a military constellation in low Earth orbit. In a Jan. 31 draft solicitation, the agency seeks input from vendors interested in bidding for 72 satellites and supporting ground systems that will make up a portion of a planned 216-satellite Tranche 2 Transport Layer. Responses are due March 1.
About 700 gallons of diesel fuel spilled Jan. 29 at a mountaintop observatory on Maui operated by U.S. Space Forces Indo-Pacific, the Air Force said Jan. 31. The spill occurred at the Maui Space Surveillance Complex, which tracks satellites and space debris using several telescopes atop Haleakala, a dormant volcano.
The White House officially got the ball rolling on the 14th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation (QRMC) Jan. 31, with a mandate look at whether service members are paid enough in current economic conditions. The memorandum directs the Secretary of Defense to complete the review within two years. The memo said the review should “determine how a shift toward dual-income households and the unique factors affecting military household incomes might require structural changes.”
SandboxAQ—an emerging technology startup formed in 2022 with deep roots at Alphabet Inc.—is set to deploy prototype quantum sensors for GPS-denied navigation and other applications onboard Air Force test aircraft, as part of a broad new research effort to explore what those capabilities could mean for future military systems. The “AQ” in the company’s name alludes to its founders’ aims to accelerate the adoption of technologies that combine artificial intelligence and quantum science.
Two former NASA astronauts and military test pilots were awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor Jan. 31 during an event at the White House. Robert Behnken, a retired Air Force colonel, and Douglas Hurley, a retired Marine colonel, were presented the awards by Vice President Kamala Harris. “Bob and Doug, together, have written the first page of a new chapter in the history of American space flight,” Harris, who chairs the National Space Council, said during the ceremony.