The U.S. will establish a new military command in Japan to bolster security ties as Washington moves to strengthen its Asia allies in the face of China’s military buildup, top American and Japanese officials said July 28. The new American command, which will initially be led by a three-star general, will coordinate military operations with the Japanese side, plan joint exercises, and participate in the defense of the country if hostilities erupt.
A first-ever gathering of defense chiefs from Japan, South Korea, and the United States produced a trilateral security agreement, “grave concern” over increasing Russian-North Korean cooperation, and vague opposition to “unilateral attempts to change the status quo”—a reference to China and Taiwan.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall is a strong proponent of the Air Force’s rapidly accelerating drone wingman effort, but the service’s top civilian also believes that more work is needed to establish a clear standard for liability if unmanned systems violate the laws of armed conflict.
One minor was killed and three others were injured at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia when a wall at the men's locker room of the on-base pool collapsed on them. The incident occurred July 22 at the Heritage Club Pool men's locker room, according to a statement from Col. Deedrick Reese, the installation and 78th Air Base Wing commander. The incident was under investigation, the wing said.
The Biden administration warned Israel if it hits Hezbollah targets in Beirut in response to a deadly strike on the Golan Heights on July 27 "the situation would likely spiral out of control," according to one Israeli official and one U.S. official.
The Space Force has launched a study to consider what capabilities to host on future satellites that detect and track advanced, high-speed weapons. Col. Rob Davis, who oversees space sensing acquisition efforts for the service, said July 25 that as part of that work, the Space Force is weighing the right approach for ensuring such spacecraft can survive a nuclear threat.
Negotiations on a performance-based logistics contract for the F-35 sustainment enterprise appear stalled indefinitely after the U.S. government backed away from negotiations late last year. “The government elected not to pursue the PBL,” Greg Ulmer, president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, said. “So the current program is to annually procure options of the air vehicle’s supply contract to sustain the airplane.”
In episode 194 of the Aerospace Advantage, Heather Penney and J.V. Venable explore the topic of tactical networking with Galt Aerospace CEO John Kohut. Bottom line: information sharing and data exchange are the key to combat success in future conflicts. Whether discussing concepts like Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) or collaborative combat aircraft (CCA), there is a fundamental drive toward a far more connected force. The net effect will see individual assets in different geographic locations and domains collaborating to yield a net effect greater than their individual parts. But for that work, a variety of systems need to be able to talk. In this episode we discuss the underlying concepts of operation that demand connectivity, explain the evolution of the associated technology, and discuss where we need to go from both a technical and operational set of perspectives. We talk about things like long-range kill chains all the time—join us in the episode to learn from experts with the operational and technical expertise to figure out how these systems-of-systems actually work and why they matter.
Lockheed Martin has rolled out a new version of its Sniper targeting pod with added networking capabilities primarily designed to provide a secure link between non-stealthy fourth-generation fighters like the F-16 and stealthy F-35 Joint Strike Fighters.
After 80 years, a World War II sergeant killed in Germany has returned home to California. On July 25, community members lined the roads to honor U.S. Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta as he was brought from Ontario International Airport to a burial home in Riverside, California. Banta, 21, was killed in action in early 1944 when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany.