Intel Leaders: Beware ‘Expeditionary’ China

While much has been said of China's potential to invade Taiwan in the coming years, U.S. Air Force and Space Force intelligence experts say America must also be on guard for the possibility that the PRC's ambitions might not stop in the Indo-Pacific. 

Officials Tout Digital Tools, Cyber Focus for New Sentinel ICBM

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.—The Air Force and Northrop Grumman are pouring billions of dollars toward cybersecurity and digital modeling and testing for the new Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile, highlighting the scale and sweeping changes of ICBM modernization.  And while the program...

Radar Sweep

China and Russia Conduct Joint Sub Patrols—Should America Worry?

Defense News

Chinese and Russian submarines have conducted a joint patrol, in the latest step in a growing Sino-Russian partnership. While the exercise only involved two subs, the warning was clear: America should contemplate the prospect of confronting a China-Russia alliance.

SPONSORED: CAE Delivers Next-Gen Training for the Future Force

CAE

Air & Space Forces Magazine Editor-in-Chief Tobias Naegele visited CAE’s booth at AFA’s 2025 Air, Space & Cyber Conference to meet with Nick Yates, CAE’s Senior Business Development Manager, to discuss how the Air Force is transforming warfighter training through next-generation training architecture for fifth- and sixth-generation aircraft.

NRO Needs AI to Manage More Than 200 (And Counting) Satellites, Director Says

Breaking Defense

One of America’s most secretive spy agencies is wrestling with an embarrassment of riches, and it needs AI to help. The National Reconnaissance Office now has so many satellites in orbit—especially in its new and rapidly growing “proliferated Low Earth Orbit” constellation—that traditional, labor-intensive ground control can’t efficiently manage them all, said NRO director Chris Scolese.

Lockheed Eyes Upgrades for Oldest F-22 Raptors

The War Zone

Lockheed Martin is pushing for the U.S. Air Force to extend the scope of the upgrade for the F-22 Raptor fighter so that it will include the earlier Block 20 aircraft that the service currently uses for training. These Block 20 jets, 35 in all, had previously been on the chopping block, but amid questions about the ultimate replacement plan for the F-22, the manufacturer is pushing for the upgrade effort to be expanded to these earlier and currently far less-capable aircraft.

One More Thing

Military Commissaries Could Be Privatized Under Pentagon Plan

Task & Purpose

The Pentagon is looking for commercial retailers to run commissaries on military bases in the latest push to privatize troops’ quality of life. The Department of Defense wants to see if private commercial grocery operators or investment firms are willing and able to run 178 commissaries at military bases across the U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, according to a Request For Information, or RFI, posted to Sam.gov, the federal government’s website for contract opportunities.