The U.S. Air Force hasn’t had this much gunship firepower in the Philippines since the Vietnam War, according to special operations airmen participating in this month’s Balikatan drills. A pair of AC-130J Ghostrider gunships—heavily armed versions of the C-130J Super Hercules tactical airlifter—landed recently at Cubi Point, a former U.S. naval air station in Subic Bay, on the Philippines’ main island of Luzon.
President Joe Biden has nominated the U.S. Army’s vice chief of staff to be the service’s next chief, according to the congressional register. Gen. Randy George, if confirmed by the Senate, would succeed Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville, who will retire this summer.
Australia’s latest Defence Strategic Review has rejected the acquisition of the B-21 Raider after a detailed discussion with the U.S. In an announcement April 24, Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles presented a strategic review that emphasizes the need for a significant shift towards long-range deterrence. The proposed approach involves the use of missiles, submarines, and cyber tools to keep potential adversaries at a safe distance.
U.S. military space watchers and space traffic managers face a daunting workload due to increasing congestion and threats in orbit. The Space Force is investing in new sensors and technologies to better characterize objects in orbit, but is not taking full advantage of commercially available data and services, says a new report by the Government Accountability Office.
In Episode 125 of the Aerospace Advantage, Doug Birkey discusses a looming capacity cliff with Maj. Gen. Paul Rogers, the Adjutant General of the Michigan National Guard; Brig. Gen. Tim Donnellan, commander of the Idaho Air National Guard; along with retired Lt. Gen. Dave Deptula and Heather Penney of the Mitchell Institute.
Global military spending rose by 3.7 percent last year, amounting to a “record high” of $2.24 trillion, according to a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute released April 24. Regionally, Europe saw the largest spike in spending at 13 percent, attributed to the war in Ukraine and longer-standing anxiety about Russian aggression.
The Air Force has named the first woman to serve as the civilian leader of its criminal investigation agency in its 74-year history. Special Agent Pearl S. Mundt, who has spent 23 years with the Air Force’s Office of Special Investigations, was named as its executive director April 24. She will serve as deputy to the OSI commander, Brig. Gen. Terry L. Bullard.
If the Defense Department could better manage its finances, it could put unused dollars into tackling the maintenance backlog at military facilities, according to an official with the Government Accountability Office. “GAO has found that each year DOD doesn’t obligate—and eventually returns to the U.S. Treasury—billions of dollars in operation and maintenance funding, the same type of funding that can be used to fund facility sustainment,” said Elizabeth A. Field, director of defense capabilities and management for GAO.
The Air Force took its “eyes off the ball” gathering intelligence about other governments’ space activities, the colonel charged with overseeing that mission told a conference last week, so the Space Force is adding five new intelligence squadrons. “Those of us who've been in the military for a little while, over the last 20 years or so, we've been very focused on counterterrorism and the old GWOT”—Global War on Terror —“battle, and we’ve really kind of taken our eyes off the ball in space,” Col. Brett Swigert, commander of the Space Force's Space Delta 7, said.
The stunning leak of hundreds of classified national security documents onto the internet has thrust the Defense Department’s handling of state secrets into the spotlight. Perhaps ironically, the incident comes as the DoD is actively pursuing a new security standard known as “zero trust,” which continuously authenticates a user’s access to an organization’s network.
Engines roared and the crowd cheered as more than 170,000 spectators helped celebrate 75 years of airpower and horsepower at NASCAR’s superspeedway at Talladega, Ala., on April 23. “This is a special day not only for the 70,000-plus Citizen Airmen of the Air Force Reserve, but also for NASCAR, as we’re both celebrating our 75th anniversary this year,” said Lt. Gen. John Healy, chief of the Air Force Reserve and commander of Air Force Reserve Command. “The men and women of NASCAR have a great deal in common with the United States Air Force and the Air Force Reserve. They both celebrate dedication and they’re both looking for perseverance and most importantly, patriotism.”