Multiple Bases Hunker Down, Evacuate Aircraft for Hurricane Helene

Air Force installations across Florida hunkered down for Hurricane Helene on Sept. 26, closing many on-base services and only allowing mission-essential personnel on base. The storm, which is expected to make landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, is also impacting the first-ever launch of a Space Force Guardian into orbit.

Air Force Faces Hits to Readiness, New Programs Under Continuing Resolution

The House and Senate passed a continuing resolution Sept. 25 to keep the government funded through Dec. 20, and President Joe Biden has indicated he will sign the legislation. Under a CR, the Department of the Air Force said, space launch and testing modernization will fall short and technologies that protect space-based communications cannot enter production. Such a bill will also hit routine maintenance of aircraft and other equipment, the Air Force’s flight training budget, facilities upkeep, and upcoming contract awards.

Radar Sweep

Israel Casts Doubt on Hezbollah Cease-Fire and Launches More Airstrikes

The Wall Street Journal

Israel launched more strikes it said targeted Hezbollah in Lebanon and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told troops to keep fighting at full force, casting doubt on diplomatic efforts to establish a cease-fire and head off a possible Israeli ground invasion. The Israeli military said it had hit some 220 targets since late Sept. 25 in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley area and the country’s south—both areas where the militant group has a strong presence—including weapons-storage facilities, launchers, and militants.

US Intelligence Stresses Risks in Allowing Long-Range Strikes by Ukraine

The New York Times

U.S. intelligence agencies believe that Russia is likely to retaliate with greater force against the United States and its coalition partners, possibly with lethal attacks, if they agree to give the Ukrainians permission to employ U.S., British, and French-supplied long-range missiles for strikes deep inside Russia, U.S. officials said.

‘I Don’t See It’: Before Their CCA Drones Even Take to the Air, Anduril and General Atomics Trade Shots

Breaking Defense

On the exhibit floor of the Air Force’s biggest conference last week, two full-sized models of next-generation combat drones squared off amid a maze of defense contractor booths, drawing crowds that included the head of the Air Force. On one side, the Fury, built by defense tech startup Anduril. On the other, a variant of the Gambit family of drones built by General Atomics, a pioneer of the unmanned systems industry.

Congress Denies Air Force Request for Second C-40 VIP Transport Plane

Breaking Defense

Lawmakers have rejected a request by the Air Force to acquire a second C-40 aircraft, Breaking Defense recently learned, adding another setback in the service’s bid to expand the airlift fleet that transports top U.S. officials. Alongside a call for one C-40 aircraft in the fiscal 2025 budget submission, the Air Force additionally asked Congress to rearrange FY24 funds to procure a second aircraft, the service confirmed to Breaking Defense.

Third Marine XQ-58 Valkyrie Flight Test Uses Link 16 For Control

The War Zone

The U.S. Marine Corps says it has demonstrated new capabilities for operating future drones with high degrees of autonomy in expeditionary operations with another test flight of one of its stealthy XQ-58 Valkyries. Newly added capabilities leveraging the popular Link 16 network were central to the test.

Space Force Hails Progress in Missile-Warning Satellite Program

SpaceNews

Amid a growing focus on low Earth orbit satellites, the U.S. Space Force is making strides in a more traditional space-based capability: large missile-warning satellites. The Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next-Gen OPIR) program, with an estimated cost of $14 billion, is among the most expensive satellite procurement efforts in the Space Force today.

AUKUS Open to Enabling More Emerging Tech Options Via Pillar 2

DefenseScoop

The AUKUS alliance is open to further expanding its Pillar 2 capability areas to encompass more emerging technology categories for strategic acceleration, two senior defense officials told DefenseScoop. The news comes as defense leaders from the U.S., U.K., and Australia gathered in London to participate in the trilateral security partnership’s third official ministerial meetings, since its launch in 2021.

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Air Force Bringing Industry into C3BM/ABMS Experiments

Inside Defense

The Air Force is bringing industry into command, control, communications and battle management experiments to help current or potential contractors understand the warfighter's operational needs. The next exercise businesses can take part in will focus on dynamic targeting and kill chain automation for the Advanced Battle Management System, which is the Air Force’s contribution to Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control, according to a notice for the December industry day.

One More Thing

Did a US F-22 Shoot Down a UFO? Photo of Aerial Object Adds to Mystery

Air Force Times

Remember February 2023? It was a wild time. There were cocaine-addled bears, mushroom zombies, and Air Force fighters shooting sketchy, inflatable objects out of the sky left and right. That month began with a Chinese balloon ... drifting across much of the contiguous United States and igniting a furor. That was before it was blowed up real good—the technical terminology—by an F-22 off the coast of South Carolina. U.S. pilots soon shot down three more mystery objects over Alaska, Canada’s Yukon territory and Lake Huron in as many days. None of those subsequent objects were ever recovered, with the official line indicating they were probably hobbyist or research balloons. But one grainy image—it’s always a grainy image, isn’t it?—of the object shot down over the Yukon has now emerged, and it’s giving significant “I want to believe” vibes.