Editor’s Note

The Daily Report will not publish Friday, April 6, as AFA’s offices will be closed. We will back in your inboxes Monday, April 10.

SDA’s Tournear ‘Just Not’ Afraid of Satellite Shootdowns. Supply Chain Is the Greater Worry.

By Greg Hadley
As the Space Development Agency celebrates the successful first launch of its planned constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites, director Derek M. Tournear says he's no longer concerned about China or Russia trying to shoot U.S. satellites down. By deploying hundreds of satellites in SDA's new Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, the Space Force is recalculating the economics of space warfare.

NATO Air Exercise Will Offer Germany ‘High Value’ Lessons on F-35 Operations, Luftwaffe Boss Says

By Chris Gordon
The head of the Luftwaffe arrived in the U.S. this week to strengthen cooperation with the U.S. Air National Guard and its F-35s before a massive NATO exercise that is to take place in June. “It's going to be high value,” Chief of the German Air Force Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz said of his military’s opportunity to learn about the fifth-generation fighter during the upcoming Air Defender 23 exercise. Gerhartz said the Luftwaffe will begin training on F-35s in the United States in 2026 and operating the jets in Germany in 2027.
space force

Space Force Looks to Build Ties with More Combatant Commands—Like CYBERCOM and SOCOM

By David Roza
Three years after its initial launch, the Space Force is increasing its integration with the joint force by building relationships and standing up components within more and more U.S. combatant commands, top generals said April 5 at the Mitchell Institute’s Spacepower Security Forum. Already, the service established components under U.S. Central Command, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and its subcomponent, U.S. Forces Korea, late last year. Now, leaders are working to establish a component within U.S. European Command—and U.S. Cyber Command and U.S. Special Operations Command could potentially follow.

The Future Force

By John A. Tirpak
At least 20 new airplane programs—including a handful that are variants—are in some stage of planning or development. If sustained, this airplane-building campaign will lower the average age of the fleet, increase its size, and enhance its ability to be upgraded rapidly.

Radar Sweep

As Air Force Tries to Retire Jets, HASC’s Wittman Wants a Gapfiller

Defense One

The U.S. must improve its forces “to deal with the threats from China,” replenish munitions, invest in energetics, and keep the Air Force’s secret under-development fighter jet on track, says Rep. Rob Wittman, chairman of the House Armed Services’s tactical air and land forces subcommittee. The subcommittee’s primary goal is to modernize the Pentagon’s tactical air and land forces in a way that doesn’t “give up” capability and capacity, Wittman told Defense One in an interview.

Xi Likely ‘Not Aware’ of All Chinese Gray Zone Operations, US Intel Officer Says

Breaking Defense

The United States has “strong indications” that Chinese leader Xi Jinping could be losing control over the gray zone “harassment” tactics that his military and paramilitary forces have been using against neighboring countries and the US, a senior intelligence officer warned today. “We have strong indications that Xi Jinping—and I’m an intelligence guy—Xi Jinping is not aware of everything his security forces are doing,” Rear Adm. Mike Studeman, commander of the Office of Naval Intelligence, told an audience at the Sea-Air-Space exposition.

OPINION: It’s Time for the Military to Rethink Entrance Examinations

Military Times

“Since 1968, the military has used the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB, to assess all incoming recruits. This single test predicts academic skills and determines what military occupational specialty, or MOS, the recruit is qualified to perform in their service. However, these evaluations are subject to bias, such as race or income inequality, and don’t accurately measure a recruit’s aptitude to perform a job,” writes Lt. Cmdr. Stewart Latwin, the Navy Federal Executive Fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

Advancing the Warfighter

Air & Space Forces Magazine

The way modern Airmen and Guardians prepare for the future fight is changing, with live, virtual, and constructive training offering new ways to practice essential skills. Learn more about how virtual and augmented reality, simulated environments, and other technologies are helping train warfighters everywhere from the cockpit to the maintenance depot.

China, Russia Propaganda Wither as Cameras Multiply, US Admiral Says

Defense News

The proliferation of cameras now in use around the world make it increasingly difficult for China and Russia to control the narrative in international disputes, according to a senior U.S. Navy intelligence official. Photographs and other documentation of run-ins between Chinese and Russian forces and those of other countries have proven critical to debunking propaganda, establishing factual timelines and holding Presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin to account, Rear Adm. Mike Studeman said April 5.

Guardsmen, Reservists Would Get Expanded Parental Leave Under Senate Bill

Military.com

On the heels of Congress securing a win for Active-Duty military parents by expanding their parental leave, a bipartisan pair of senators wants National Guardsmen and reservists to have comparable benefits. Under the Reserve Component Parental Leave Parity Act, the text of which was obtained by Military.com ahead of its release, Guardsmen and Reservists on drill status who are non-birthing parents, adoptive parents, or foster parents would get parental leave—not just birth mothers, as is the case right now.

Navy Carrier-Based Drones Will Be Able to Be Controlled by the Air Force

The War Zone

In a future fight, control of advanced drones belonging to the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force could be passed back and forth between assets from either service as the situation demands. Navy Rear Adm. Andrew "Bucket" Loiselle provided details on the service's advanced aviation plans, including new drones and sixth-generation crewed stealth combat jets, and cooperation with the Air Force on these efforts during a panel discussion at the Navy League's annual Sea-Air-Space conference and exhibition.

Space Force Embraces Unconventional Ways to Attract and Retain Talent

SpaceNews

A cybersecurity expert from the private sector was recently commissioned into the U.S. Space Force as a lieutenant colonel even though he never attended a military service academy or completed ROTC in college. This is an example of “innovative recruitment practices” the Space Force is implementing to attract needed talent, Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations, said in a speech April 5 at the Mitchell Institute’s Spacepower Security Forum.

One More Thing

Offutt Air Force Base Lab Helps to Identify Remains of Fallen Service Members

WOWT

Offutt’s Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, or DPAA Laboratory is one of only two labs in the country. The other is located in Hawaii, both charged with the mission to investigate, recover, and identify fallen service members. Right now, investigators are working through evidence found from a plane crash in Germany during World War II—everything from boots to oxygen masks, even wedding rings. “Material evidence is incredibly useful both in the field and as it’s being recovered,” said Dr. Franklin Damann with Offutt’s DAAP lab. “It can help direct the location of an archeological recovery because it’s the personnel we’re looking for, not parts of the aircraft.”