Defense One
Nearly a quarter of the Pentagon’s cyber jobs are unfilled, but the department has a plan to slash that number as part of a multiyear implementation plan released Aug. 3. “Today we have about a 24 percent vacancy rate. And our plan, in the first two years…we're trying to reduce that about in half,” Mark Gorak, the principal director for resources and analysis for the Pentagon's chief information officer, told reporters.
Breaking Defense
The Space Force is concentrating fully half of its intelligence-gathering activities on China to keep tabs on Beijing’s rapid evolution as a space power to reckon with, according to the service’s senior intelligence officer. “From an intelligence perspective … about half of what we do is focused on China. About 25 percent of what we do is focused on Russia, and a lot of that has to do because of the current conflict [i.e., in Ukraine],” Maj. Gen. Gregory Gagnon, Space Force deputy chief of space operations for intelligence, told the Space Force Association.
Air & Space Forces Magazine
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall has defined seven Operational Imperatives for the Department of the Air Force to work on, warning that “if we don't get them right, we will have unacceptable operational risk.” From a resilient space order of battle to the development of next-generation tactical air dominance and global strike platforms, these imperatives will define the Air Force for decades to come—Dive deeper into each one with our new “Operational Imperatives” pages highlighting all the latest news and developments on these critical efforts.
Defense News
“In the face of rising threats to the U.S. and the constraints on military budgets, the Defense Department’s munitions enterprise requires a systemic review and development of a strategic plan. This plan would lay out production and fielding objectives for modernized and affordable weapons,” write retired Gen. Joseph Martin, former U.S. Army vice chief of staff, and retired Lt. Gen. David Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
The War Zone
A new mobile ground-based air defense system centered around AIM-132 ASRAAM (Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile) has emerged in Ukraine. It takes the AIM-132, a hugely capable weapon, and adapts it for surface launch. The ad-hoc system is another example of the wide variety of advanced weapons that have been supplied to Kyiv by the United Kingdom. It will help meet a dire demand for short-range air defenses (SHORADs) needed to tackle a resurgent Russian aerial threat on the frontlines.
The Associated Press
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned that troop readiness and retention is at risk as the Army’s chief stepped down Aug. 4, leaving the military’s two ground combat forces without Senate-confirmed leaders for the first time in history. Speaking during a ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Austin said the Senate’s failure to confirm the services’ new leaders is disruptive to the force and could impact relationships with allies and partners around the globe.
The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies
In Episode 140 of the Aerospace Advantage podcast, host John “Slick” Baum chats with retired Lt. Gen. David Deptula, Todd Harmer, Anthony Lazarski, and Tim Ryan. The last few weeks have been busy, with Congress continuing to advance the defense bills and the looming potential for a government shutdown in the coming months. We’re also seeing a generational wave of modernization with our allies and partners. Our experts also assess recent threat developments as Russia continues its war in Ukraine, and as China maintains its assertive stance in the Pacific. On top of all that, we review the latest developments in spacepower.
The Washington Post
The surveillance footage was alarming. Though grainy and inconclusive, it captured the nighttime movements of someone creeping into the ammunition storage area at a remote U.S. outpost in Syria. An hour later, twin explosions there wounded four Americans and ignited a fire that burned until daylight. A military investigation into the April 2022 incident led to the arrest of Tech. Sgt. David W. Dezwaan, an Air Force explosives expert found alone at the second blast site. Military prosecutors would later allege that he had both the skills and the access to equipment needed to stage an insider attack. The highly unusual allegation of betrayal went to court-martial earlier this year, resulting in Dezwaan’s acquittal after an eight-day trial in Utah.
The War Horse
The average American doesn’t meet the basic qualifications to serve, and the pool of eligible Americans has dropped from 29 percent in 2013 to 23 percent in 2023. About 4 percent of eligible applicants would be ruled out for psychological and developmental diagnoses, such as autism, depression, or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, according to the Defense Department, which works out to thousands of potential recruits a year.
Breaking Defense
Just a week after Turkey signed an agreement to add Azerbaijan to its fifth-generation fighter jet program, a senior Turkish official suggested that Pakistan, too, could join in. “Pretty soon, within this month, we will be discussing with our Pakistani counterparts to officially include Pakistan in our national fighter jet program, KAAN,” deputy defense minister Celal Sami Tufekci announced.
Air Force Times
When the Blended Retirement System was created more than five years ago, one of its primary goals was to help service members set themselves up financially for the future, even if they didn’t stay for 20 years and retire. That aim is being met, according to defense officials.
SpaceNews
Lockheed Martin, a company that for decades has built schoolbus-sized spacecraft for the U.S. government, opened a new facility to assemble small satellites, which are now in higher demand. Lockheed Martin’s 20,000-square-foot factory is located at the company’s Waterton campus near Denver, Colo. It has six parallel assembly lines and capacity to manufacture 180 small satellites per year, Kevin Huttenhoff, Lockheed Martin’s senior manager for space data transport, told SpaceNews.
DefenseScoop
U.S. Southern Command is working deliberately via conferences, exercises and other engagements to inform international military partners in the region of China’s escalating presence and influence within their communications and technological infrastructure—and help them counter it, Gen. Laura Richardson said on Aug. 4.
Task & Purpose
Air Force and Space Force members now have more mental health care options, including the ability to request referrals for mental health evaluations, according to a new memo from Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall. The Department of the Air Force announced the new policies that service members are eligible for through the Brandon Act this week. A memo dated July 28, 2023, obtained and shared by the unofficial Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page, outlines the department’s specific guidance. The move also applies to Space Force, which is part of the Department of the Air Force.
One More Thing
Coffee or Die
A word of advice to anyone not thrilled by the possibility of seeing a man naked from the waist down: Never ask a United States Air Force pararescueman (aka a PJ) to show you his tattoo. If you do, there’s a chance he will drop his pants so you can see the pair of green feet inked on his posterior. To the uninitiated, the green feet might seem a bit random. You might also wonder, why are they on his ass? The confusion is justified, but rest assured, the man standing with his buttocks exposed before you is not a crazy person with a foot fetish. He’s just a PJ.
