The U.S. military has made no secret in recent years that countering China in the Pacific is top priority. Despite that, the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command submitted to Congress a list of 30 important projects totaling $3.5 billion that did not make it into the Pentagon’s $842 billion fiscal 2024 budget request.
As we develop a fully networked force with our allies and partners, the ability of the F-35 to collect and synthesize data will be an incredible force multiplier as part of Joint All Domain Command and Control, or JADC2. To harness these capabilities, our services need a much better engine.
The U.S. Space Force sent Congress a mostly classified fiscal 2024 “wish list” that includes $434 million for six unnamed programs. Defense News obtained the document, referred to as an “unfunded priorities list.” The request is separate from the service’s FY24 budget proposal, highlighting for lawmakers projects it did not pursue within its $30 billion spending plan.
The Department of Defense will host a conference in June to look at ways that the U.S. military can leverage generative artificial intelligence for “decision support and superiority.” But the Pentagon is well aware of the technology’s current shortcomings, according to Deputy CTO for Critical Technologies Maynard Holliday.
Skimming the treetops, three Soviet-era attack helicopters bank and swoop down on a field after an early-morning mission to the front lines in the fight against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Each day, they might fly three or four sorties, says the commander, whose two-crew Mi-24 helicopter, built about 40 years ago, is older than he is.
The U.S. Air Force wants to speed up its procurement of Boeing E-7A battlefield management and command-and-control aircraft, as part of the service’s so-called wish list for the fiscal 2024 budget. The nearly $2.5 billion unfunded priorities list includes more than $633 million for accelerating the delivery of the E-7, which the Air Force plans to eventually replace the E-3 Sentry airborne warning and control, or AWACS, aircraft.
Military officials in four Nordic countries have announced the creation of a unified air defense force to counter the perceived threat from Russia. Air force commanders from Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden on March 24 said their forces would be integrated to operate jointly on the basis of NATO standards. The countries have about 400 modern jet fighters either in service or on order.
North American Aerospace Defense Command sent fighters, a supporting KC-135 tanker, and an E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control aircraft after a suspicious radar track over southern Texas that was approaching the Gulf of Mexico.
A U.S. Air Force office focused on making sure aircraft and weapon systems are hardened against cyber intrusions wants to expand its reach within the Space Force. The Cyber Resiliency Office for Weapon Systems, also known as CROWS, works with acquisition and testing teams to make sure old and new platforms are protected against cyber threats. The organization established Cyber Focus Teams to do this work within Air Force program executive offices and wants to replicate that work within the Space Force.
Ukraine's Air Force said it will now allow foreigners to serve as pilots and engineering specialists, with a spokesperson stressing the fact that Ukraine will likely need international recruits if and when it starts to receive Western combat aircraft. Yurii Ihnat, a spokesperson for the commander of Ukraine's air force, said in a statement that foreign citizens will be able to join if they have suitable military training.
In Episode 121 of the Aerospace Advantage, China’s Diplomatic Ascent: Key Observations, John “Slick” Baum talks with China expert Daniel Rice about how the Asian superpower is gaining increased influence around the globe. Much of this ties to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a large-scale infrastructure and investment project first put forward by Xi Jinping in 2013. Since then, it has served as a center piece of Chinese foreign policy. This episode explores how China is using BRI to spread its influence abroad and how BRI has evolved over time. We also discuss China’s strategic partnership and support of Russia, including how China is leveraging BRI to further this engagement.
The first four of 13 Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets that Slovakia decided to give Ukraine have been safely handed over to the Ukrainian air force, the Slovak Defense Ministry said on March 23. The ministry said the warplanes were flown from Slovakia to Ukraine by Ukrainian pilots with help from the Slovak air force, Ukrainian personnel and others.
New budget documents for the three military branches that fly the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft show that none has plans to buy any additional airframes, a sign that the Pentagon isn't prioritizing growing the fleet.
Russia plans to station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, President Vladimir Putin said March 25. Moscow will complete the construction of a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus by the beginning of July, Putin told state broadcaster Russia 1. During the interview, Putin said Russia had helped Belarus convert 10 aircraft to make them capable of carrying tactical nuclear warheads and would start training pilots to fly the re-configured planes early next month.
Plane spotters are everywhere in the world, but dramatically so here: In Los Angeles, where one is primed to view the everyday cinematically, the distance between person and airplane can feel as thrillingly thin as the space between Cary Grant and the crop duster in Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest.”