The Defense Intelligence Agency has launched the Defense Clandestine Service to bolster human intelligence collection and better integrate the agency into broader US Intelligence Community activities. “I think the practical result will be a rebalancing of our efforts and our focus on the human side of intelligence collection,” said Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. John Kirby April 24. “It’s also designed to further professionalize our intelligence workforce and offer some career progression inside the intelligence community,” he added. The new service is meant to complement existing intelligence efforts and is not about “supplanting anybody,” said Kirby. “It’s about making us better contributors to the overall team effort,” he noted. The bulk of the IC’s Humint capabilities have long resided within the CIA. (AFPS report by Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.)
The Air Force’s Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile is behind schedule and may significantly overrun its expected cost, which could partially explain why the service is reviving the hypersonic AGM-183 Air-Launched Rapid-Response Weapon.