The Pentagon is defending its steady rollout of weapons to Ukraine even as officials in Kyiv say the assistance is coming too slowly—and it might already be too late to help turn the tide of the war in Ukraine’s favor. ... While the incoming F-16 fighter jets are welcome, they would’ve been more helpful a year ago, a senior officer said. The planes were originally expected to arrive in Ukraine by the end of 2023, and now they’re supposed to arrive by late spring once pilot training is complete.
A year after a Chinese stratospheric balloon flew across the United States—triggering a political furor, discussion about gaps in domain awareness and the eventual combat downing of the airship—the U.S. military is seeking funding to begin its own high-altitude balloon project to conduct intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.
No injuries were reported after a T-6A Texan II training jet made an emergency landing at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, on April 3. The crash, involving an aircraft assigned to the base’s 559th Flying Training Squadron, occurred around 11:30 a.m. local time, said Air Education and Training Command, which oversees the squadron. The Air Force is investigating the cause of the accident.
Problems with an upgrade installed on some Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters rolling off the production line have now disrupted plans to incorporate those upgrades on existing aircraft, and the F-35 Joint Program Office does not have a date for when those jets will get the much-anticipated retrofits.
Scout Space, a startup based in Reston, Va., is developing a space domain awareness sensor aimed at the military market as the U.S. seeks new ways to monitor and protect its assets in orbit. The company on April 4 announced it won a $1.8 million Small Business Innovation Research contract under the SpaceWERX Tactically Responsive Space program.
Russia has rebuilt its military after suffering enormous losses during its invasion of Ukraine, according to a U.S. State Department official. “We have assessed over the course of the last couple of months that Russia has almost completely reconstituted militarily,” said Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell at an event hosted by the Center for a New American Security.
After months of preparation and funding, the Defense Department has begun executing on its ambitious plans to transition to a zero-trust cybersecurity framework by the end of fiscal 2027, according to multiple senior IT officials at the Pentagon.
Two Space Force Guardians have graduated from the Army’s Drill Instructor Academy at Fort Jackson in South Carolina, marking a first for the nation's newest service branch. Space Force Tech. Sgt. David Gudgeon and Sgt. Yuji Moore graduated from the Army's program April 3, according to a news release from Fort Jackson.
The U.S. Air Force wants to modify 326 of its Boeing C/KC-135 aircraft to have commercial access to both secure and nonsecure satellite communications. The service on April 11-12 will hold industry days near Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., for the new effort.
Air Force Materiel Command—the major Wright-Patterson Air Force Base-headquartered mission responsible for equipping the Air Force—revealed new details April 4 on how the Air Force’s planned reorganization will impact it. The changes will involve no significant job disruptions, a spokesman for the command said.
A former two-time WAC Swimmer of the Year, Wen Zhang, a 2023 U.S. Air Force Academy graduate, discusses life in the World Class Athlete Program, his maturation in the pool, and the goals laid out before him as he aims to make the 2024 Olympic roster.