01062019 Elephant Walk

Air Force May Miss Historic Budget Boom With Cautious Proposals, Expert Fears

By Stephen Losey
The Pentagon’s proposed budget for the Air Force in fiscal 2027 would include billions of dollars in additional spending on advanced next-generation fighters, trainer aircraft, hypersonic missiles and more. But an expert close to Air Force issues said the service’s asks are paltry compared to the massive $1.5 trillion topline the Pentagon requested and would represent a historic lost opportunity to invest for the long term.

Radar Sweep

The Pentagon Claims ‘We Control the Sky’ over Iran. Experts Say the Air War Isn’t That Simple.

Defense One

To President Trump and his defense secretary, the herculean rescue of two downed airmen in hostile territory was further proof that the U.S. military has full control of the skies over Iran. But the actual situation remains complicated and dangerous, according to former military officials and defense experts who said painting a simple picture overlooks the weapons that downed the F-15E—and that still hold vast swaths of airspace at risk.

VIDEO: Inside The Air Force’s Elite Ghost Tanker Unit

The War Zone

In this episode of TWZ: Special Access, Jamie Hunter visits the world-famous Edwards Air Force Base, the heart of the USAF’s flight test operations, in California’s Mojave Desert, to fly a mission in a KC-135 that’s become known as the “Ghost Tanker.”

Judge Orders Pentagon to Restore Press Access

The Hill

The Pentagon is obstructing reporters and defying an earlier court order that required it to restore access to credentialed journalists covering the Department of Defense, a U.S. judge in Washington ruled April 9—a blow to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s attempts to limit media access.

A New Kind of Arsenal: Commercial Satellites

SpaceNews

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was widely described as the first commercial space war. Not because satellites were firing weapons, but because privately owned systems became essential to the fight. A few years later, that shift is being institutionalized. Commercial space technology is moving even more directly into the war plan.