The Associated Press
Romania’s top defense body approved on April 11 the acquisition of an unspecified number of American-made F-35 fighter jets, as the NATO-member state pushes to modernize its air force, Romania’s presidential office said. The office of President Klaus Iohannis did not specify how many F-35 fighters Romania would look to purchase or when it would buy them. The acquisition would also need Parliamentary approval but is expected to be widely supported.
SpaceNews
In an effort to keep up with the ever-increasing demands of U.S. military services, the Space Force will propose a new plan to acquire high-capacity satellite communications. Senior members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are set to be briefed on this plan in the coming weeks, said Lt. Gen. Philip Garrant, deputy chief of space operations for strategy, plans, programs and requirements.
Defense News
Today, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is deadlocked with the White House over raising the debt ceiling amid Republican demands to curb spending while simultaneously increasing the defense budget. At the same time, he’s likely to face another divisive issue within his caucus in the months ahead: additional emergency defense and economic spending for Ukraine. All of that means Congress is poised to rehash a decade-old fight in a divided government, and the Pentagon may no longer be able to rely on the massive defense budget increases it has grown accustomed to in recent years.
Air & Space Forces Magazine
Virtually every part of the Department of the Air Force’s drive to modernize is being shaped by Secretary Frank Kendall’s seven Operational Imperatives—lines of effort that address the most important and urgent challenges facing the Air Force today. Now, the department and industry are working together to develop solutions for each imperative, and the results will likely change the Air Force and Space Force for the next generation. Keep up with all the latest news on each Operational Imperative.
The War Zone
The U.S. Air Force says it has accelerated work to integrate Raytheon's AN/APQ-187 Silent Knight terrain-following/terrain avoidance radar onto its MC-130J Commando II special operations transport/tanker aircraft. This has come amid the retirement of the Commando II's predecessor, the MC-130H Combat Talon II, with its highly specialized AN/APQ-170 radar.
Breaking Defense
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year sent American tech firms scrambling to shore up their operations, especially those with workers in danger zones. But a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would have even more chaotic consequences for which businesses should start planning today, said the National Security Agency’s director of cybersecurity, Rob Joyce.
Defense News
With the Civil Reserve Air Fleet and its maritime equivalent—dubbed the National Defense Reserve Fleet—as models for how to take advantage of commercially-owned capacity in times of need, the Space Force is in the early phases of designing its own version, the Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve.
Task & Purpose
The battlefield is a chaotic and complicated environment. That’s true on the ground, and high in the sky above, where Air Force Tactical Systems Operators (TSOs) are often engaged in providing command and control and helping manage assets for the fight. One such TSO was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for providing all that and more during combat operations in Afghanistan in 2019. The award was presented on March 28 at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia.
One More Thing
Military.com
Now that it's safe to go to the base theater again, The Exchange Reel Time Cinema and MGM are giving military members, retirees, and military dependents the chance to catch a movie before it opens to the general public. "Guy Ritchie's The Covenant" will open in select Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) theaters on April 15, 2023.
