What the US Can Learn From the Ukraine War’s Space Front

What the US Can Learn From the Ukraine War’s Space Front

May 26, 2025 | By David Roza

U.S. and allied policymakers should seek new partnerships with commercial companies and develop alternative tools that can withstand enemy attack to succeed in future wars where military satellites are targeted, a federally funded think tank argues in a new report.

The May 21 RAND Corp. report, which highlights lessons learned from Ukrainian and Russian forces’ use of space systems over the past three years, analyzes how the use and disruption of communications, navigation and surveillance tools have played an “unprecedented role” in the war, and how the U.S. can deploy those systems in future conflicts.

Researchers first recommended that U.S. policymakers rely on commercial space assets to support allies and partners ahead of and during conflicts. RAND noted how diversifying those options has allowed Ukrainian forces to maintain crucial satellite communications and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance despite Russian interference.

For example, a Russian cyberattack in the opening hours of the war disabled much of Ukraine’s use of Viasat, the commercial internet provider Ukraine leaned on to calculate fire missions, build situational awareness, and create a common operating picture among troops. Ukrainian soldiers instead used ground lines connecting Soviet-era communications hardware, but the country’s rapid adoption of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet fiilled a critical void.

Starlink helped the Ukrainian government maintain communications with the military and civilians, enabled fire support and allowed civilians to report sightings of Russian troops, among countless other key information-sharing capabilities.

“Starlink’s impact was so significant that some Ukrainian commanders believed that, without it, the war could have been lost,” RAND noted.

The same scenario played out with ISR, for which commercial satellite imagery providers such as Maxar, Planet Labs, Capella, BlackSky, and HawkEye 360 took photos and used radio frequencies to locate Russian forces. The Finnish company ICEYE’s satellites use synthetic aperture radar to locate Russian troops “at any time and through any weather,” RAND wrote.

“Within the first months of using ICEYE’s data, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence claimed that Ukraine was able to identify the location of over 7,000 Russian military equipment sites and troop positions,” RAND said. “Ukraine’s military was then able to conduct and confirm the destruction of hundreds of Russian assets, including fighters and advanced missile launchers.”

But reliance on commercial space assets can be a double-edged sword. For example, Ukraine’s initial agreement with SpaceX was struck informally over X, then known as Twitter. The lack of a formal arrangement meant SpaceX “was not beholden to any contractual terms or subject to dedicated government oversight,” RAND wrote. “As a result, SpaceX covered most of the associated provision costs—reportedly $80 million over six months—and decided when, where, and how Starlink would be provided and used.”

The uncertainty compounded as SpaceX founder Elon Musk made public statements and policies that conflicted with Ukraine’s priorities and threatened to end Ukraine’s Starlink services entirely. Eventually the U.S. government formally contracted SpaceX to provide Starlink to Ukraine, but the experience highlighted both the importance of drawing up a formal contract and the risk of company goals not being aligned with a government’s objectives.

That can have ripple effects, too: Taiwan is reluctant to adopt SpaceX technology because Musk runs the electric car company Tesla, which produces about half of its inventory in China, RAND noted.

Contracts must also cover how the U.S. will respond to threats toward commercial space systems, such as when Russian forces tried to hack and jam Starlink satellites early in the war, or indemnify companies in case their assets are lost, researchers said.

In the case of ISR, those contracts could also include cybersecurity provisions and restrictions on sharing information to prevent satellite images from falling into an adversary’s hands.

For SATCOM, RAND recommended that the Defense Department keep building a multiorbit network of myriad satellites that would be more difficult to disable. Including both military-owned and commercial systems would enhance that resilience, RAND said.

The war in Ukraine demonstrates the difficulty of sustaining an advantage in positioning, navigation, and timing in modern conflict, as even the most advanced U.S. and allied GPS-guided bombs, missiles, and artillery shells have seen their hit rates drop sharply due to Russian jamming and spoofing operations, RAND wrote. Ground troops also found their communications were cut and drone pilots lost touch with their aircraft due to Russian electromagnetic attacks.

An electromagnetic cat-and-mouse game has emerged where Ukrainian and Russian troops develop countermeasures and counter-countermeasures, such as building jam-resistant GPS receivers into precision-guided munitions and taping SIM cards and modems onto drone fuselages to reduce dependence on satellite navigation. That means the U.S. and allies should continue innovating and pursuing alternative PNT technology “to ensure that platforms and munitions remain effective,” RAND wrote.

MITRE: ‘We Still Have Work to Do’ to Attract New Defense Contractors

MITRE: ‘We Still Have Work to Do’ to Attract New Defense Contractors

May 26, 2025 | By John A. Tirpak

Small and medium businesses are still skeptical of defense work despite years of effort and a raft of legislation aimed at accelerating acquisition and breaking down barriers for new entrants—though that perception is slowly improving, according to a new industry survey.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done” to convince new entrants that defense work is worthwhile, said Keoki Jackson, senior vice president and general manager of MITRE’s national security sector, in an interview with Air & Space Forces Magazine. It’s the first time the federally funded researcher has polled the defense industry on acquisition.

In April, MITRE asked more than 1,000 acquisition professionals across government and industry a series of questions to gauge perceptions of the ease of working with the government and the barriers preventing innovation from reaching the end user, Jackson said.

The survey’s most surprising result, Jackson said, is the “difference in view between small and medium suppliers—or nontraditional suppliers—and everybody else.”

While more than 80 percent of large contractors, federal workers and other stakeholders think those barriers are disappearing, making acquisition faster and more effective, only one-third of small and medium businesses felt that way, Jackson said.

That difference in perception is its own barrier as well, making new entrants wary of entering the defense acquisition ecosystem, he said.

Over half of survey respondents cited “inflexibility and complexity” of acquisition as the biggest obstacle to joining the defense market. About one-third of respondents pointed to “cost-type” contracts, which don’t hold companies to a specific price for a product, and another one-third called “supply chain reliability” a top concern.

Jackson said cost-type contracts were mainly cited because they make accounting more complex. He argues fixing the system should begin with making it less complicated and better understood. “The acquisition system actually has quite a bit of flexibility in it, but people are unaware,” he said.  

Asked what would improve the speed, responsiveness, and efficiency of defense contracting, the top responses were:

  • Reducing bureaucracy (21 percent)
  • Adopting modern, digital technologies (20 percent)
  • Streamlining approval layers and simplifying procedures (16 percent)

Last year, a massive report from the bipartisan Commission on Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution rolled out 28 major recommendations of reforms to make defense acquisition quicker and more efficient. Jackson expects those suggestions, plus others that are still in the works on Capitol Hill and within the Trump administration, will have “real impacts.”

Those moves have to do with “simplification of the acquisition regulations . . . at the federal level,” he said. More detailed fixes, like holding people at lower levels accountable for a program’s progress, will be a big help, Jackson said.

Acquisition workers want artificial intelligence and automation to make them more effective and efficient, Jackson added, and to share data more easily through wider adoption of digital contracting.

These are “process and technology things that I think are absolutely in the realm of the possible,” Jackson said. “Then . . . the more you can take [away] approval layers and approval procedures.”

His favorite quote from the survey: “Get rid of all the endless, useless crap.”

In launching the survey now, MITRE sought to take advantage of Washington’s appetite for defense acquisition reform. Jackson pointed to legislation introduced last year by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) that would have streamlined parts of federal acquisition law; the bill expired in January and would need to be reintroduced for further consideration.

MITRE also wanted to see how well the “adaptive acquisition framework” that it helped develop for is faring, five years after it was implemented, Jackson said. The framework created six new “pathways” meant to streamline purchases in areas like services and software and boost the use of nontraditional acquisition authorities.

The adaptive framework is in the “toddler stage,” he said. “Even though it was enacted in 2020, because of the time lag in budget cycles, 2023 was actually the first year that you could start a program” using it.

But it’s grown in popularity. For instance, Jackson said, the number of software programs using the framework has jumped from about 50 to more than 80 in the past year. About 35 programs used middle-tier acquisition authorities for rapid prototyping in 2019, before the framework was enacted, he added. That’s grown to more than 100 programs.

He cautioned, though, that of the roughly $430 billion spent on defense contracts in 2023, less than $16 billion of that went through other transaction authorities.

“That gives you a sense of the room we have for increase,” he said.

Jackson said the comments collected through the survey showed improvement “has to do with culture and risk-taking,” and that less-experienced acquisition professionals are likely to act more conservatively than seasoned workers who are more comfortable thinking outside the box. When losing people to government downsizing, retirements and resignations, he said, “it’s going to be particularly important at this point in time to provide good examples, good tools to help people understand the risk trade-offs.”

Introducing new ways to streamline acquisition has helped ameliorate stakeholders’ most negative views over the past five years, the survey found.

On a scale of having a “very negative” view of the defense acquisition process to a “very positive” view, Jackson noted a dramatic drop in the lowest category.

“But here’s the hard part,” he said. “If you look at the bottom two categories — very negative, or somewhat negative — that only drops 9 percent, to 76 percent. So, yes, we’re making progress in the . . . most negative perceptions, but overall, we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”

General Says Commercial Space Industry is Ready for Golden Dome

General Says Commercial Space Industry is Ready for Golden Dome

May 23, 2025 | By Matthew Cox

Advancements in commercial space technology could make President Donald Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense network far more likely to succeed than the failed “Star Wars” strategic umbrella initiative of the 1980s, U.S. Space Command’s top general said May 22.

Ten years ago, “if we had talked about constellations of satellites that had 7,000-plus satellites that could provide services anywhere on the globe … we might have thought that was crazy,” Gen. Stephen N. Whiting said at a Chicago Council on Global Affairs event. “Now we take that for granted.”

Whiting praised the U.S. commercial space industry’s explosive growth and its achievements over the past decade, pointing to the reusable SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket booster that has landed itself more than 400 times.

It’s been more than 40 years since President Ronald Reagan announced his Strategic Defense Initiative, which later became known as the Star Wars missile defense system. The U.S. spent billions on the ambitious effort but failed to produce an umbrella that would shield the country from nuclear attack.

Since then, “the technology has advanced tremendously,” Whiting said. “The cost of getting things to orbit has come down significantly as well because of the U.S. commercial industry and their space lift and heavy lift capability. So those are all advantages I think that will definitely support the development of the Golden Dome.”

Whiting’s comments come days after President Donald Trump called for Golden Dome to be completed in “less than three years,” which is significantly faster than many experts predict it will take to develop the technology.

Golden Dome calls for an advanced network of space-based tracking sensors and missile interceptors that would work with systems on the ground, at sea and in the air to defend the homeland against ballistic missiles, newer hypersonic weapons, and other sophisticated threats that current defense infrastructure is unable to counter.

Traditionally, Whiting said, intercontinental ballistic missiles follow a predictable flight trajectory that makes them easier to track. 

“Now countries like China and Russia have fielded what we call hyper-glide vehicles,” Whiting said. “Instead of launching and being very predictable, these things now can turn wildly, they can fly much longer than expected.”

China has also tested what is known as a “fractional orbital bombardment system,” an ICBM that can, in theory, orbit Earth multiple times before dropping onto a target from space without warning, Whiting said.

Trump estimated Golden Dome would cost $175 billion over three years—much less than a nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimate that found the cost of space-based interceptors alone could climb as high as $542 billion over 20 years.

“I don’t think [$175 billion] will be executable in three years,” Todd Harrison, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said May 23. “I think $175 billion might be a five-year or a 10-year cost estimate. … People misspeak all the time.”

Harrison argued the three-year timeline might yield a partially finished system but not a complete shield.

“This will absolutely not be finished within three years,” he said. “I think we might be able to have something that they call an initial operating capability.”

But the Pentagon and the commercial space industry are capable of producing a successful missile defense system like Golden Dome, he said.

“It is technologically feasible,” he said. “It’ll be expensive, for sure, but we’re a wealthy nation. We could make the choice to prioritize it.”

As much as the space industry has evolved, Whiting cautioned that “there is some fragility in that defense industrial base and in that commercial space sector.”

In the past, several large companies have relied on a single subcontractor to supply critical components, which creates “a choke point for us,” Whiting said.

“Now we want to make sure that we have multiple companies that can field all the capabilities that we need,” he said. “This … is a world-leading effort for the United States and our commercial space companies, but there are some areas that we want to continue to invest in to make sure they’re as robust and resilient as possible.”

A key part of Golden Dome’s success will be developing its space-based sensor network, said Harrison, noting that the Pentagon’s Space Development Agency has already begun launching satellite prototypes to sense and track missiles from low Earth orbit.

The program’s first tranche of satellites was supposed to launch this year but is delayed. Tranche two has about 50 satellites under contract and in production.

While Golden Dome may be technologically possible, Harrison said, it might not be politically feasible. Its fate could be decided by the 2026 congressional midterm elections.

“If the House flips to the Democrats … how enthusiastic are they going to be to put extra money in the budget for Golden Dome with that name?” he said.

Deptula, Chilton Earn Historical Foundation Honor

Deptula, Chilton Earn Historical Foundation Honor

May 23, 2025 | By Juanita Henry

The Air Force Historical Foundation honored a pair of storied Airmen with lifetime achievement awards at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center May 22.

Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, dean of AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, was awarded the Gen. Carl “Tooey” Spaatz Award for his lifetime contributions to Air Force history, including authoring the seminal Air Force White Paper, “Global Reach—Global Power,” and his instrumental role in planning the air campaign in Operation Desert Storm and the concept of “effects-based operations.”

Retired Air Force Gen. Kevin P. “Chili” Chilton, the Explorer Chair for the Mitchell Institute’s Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence, received the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award for Space, for a career that included being a NASA astronaut, commander of Air Force Space Command, and commander of U.S. Strategic Command. Chilton’s career also included a historic return to Air Force service after 11 years at NASA, which amounted to a policy shift when he made that move.

“Airpower has always been more than just a strategic tool,” Deptula said. “It embodies innovation, agility, and the ability to shape outcomes at the speed of relevance.”

Capturing and studying airpower history, he added, is essential in order to ensure future generations learn from it. “The voices captured in oral histories and the hard-earned lessons of those who came before us are not just artifacts of a bygone era,” Deptula said. “They are fuel for the future.”

Gen. Kevin A. Chilton receives the AFHF Lifetime Achievement for Space at the Air Force Historical Foundation Awards Banquet 2025 held at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly Va.

Chilton reflected on his return to active duty after 11 years at NASA and the leaders who supported him, including then-Chief of Staff Gen. Ronald Fogleman.

“I’m deeply grateful for their willingness to literally take a chance on a guy they knew nothing about,” Chilton said. “I like to say I was kind of like ‘Encino Man.’ I’d been freeze-dried in NASA for 11 years and then came back to the United States Air Force. Quite frankly, I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t be able to catch back up.”

The non-profit Air Force Historical Foundation was founded in 1953 by Spaatz and other airpower pioneers to preserve and promote Air Force heritage, and since the Space Force’s founding in 2019, has also been dedicated to preserving Space Force history through publication, events, and other activities. Learn more about the Air Force Historical Foundation’s award winners here.

It’s Time for the Air Force to Embrace the F-35

It’s Time for the Air Force to Embrace the F-35

May 23, 2025 | By Douglas A. Birkey

The United States revolutionized air combat with the invention of stealth technology and the low-observable combat jet. Beginning in the 1980s with the F-117 and continuing in the years that followed with the B-2, F-22, F-35, and now the F-47, the evolution of 5th generation and beyond technologies has changed the nature of air combat forever. Yet today, only 28 percent of the Air Force’s fighter inventory are 5th-generation jets.

Given the advances by China, which is rapidly fielding its own 5th generation and beyond aircraft, the U.S. Air Force must grow its 5th-gen fleet—and soon. Today, there is one aircraft in production that can answer that call: the F-35.

The Air Force, Secretary Pete Hegseth, President Trump, and Congress must boost F-35 acquisition as rapidly as possible. The omission of additional F-35 funding in the reconciliation bill now before the Senate shows a dangerous disconnect regarding this reality.

The vision for 5th-generation stealth capability developed during the Cold War as a means to counter increasingly lethal Soviet air defenses. The telltales were ominous: In the closing days of the Vietnam War, the U.S. lost 15 B-52 bombers in just 12 days. Less than a year later, Israel lost 102 of its 390 combat aircraft in the monthlong Yom Kippur War, 85 of them American-built aircraft.

U.S. commanders assessing a potential European conflict with Warsaw Pact rivals calculated that a similar loss rate would exhaust the U.S. Air Force’s combat aircraft inventory in just two weeks. As one analyst noted: “It would be a tragedy not merely for the West but for mankind if NATO, after holding its own tactically, were to be faced with the choice of either surrendering or initiating a nuclear exchange because of insufficient reserves.”

The U.S. needed a game-changing advantage, and that’s where stealth came into play.

The revolutionary F-117, the world’s first stealth jet entered the operational inventory in the 1980s. Paired with precision weapons in Operation Desert Storm, they changed the rules of modern combat.  The F-117 force flew less than 2 percent of the combat sorties but struck over 40 percent of the fixed targets.

The B-2 bomber soon followed and raised the game even further in subsequent conflicts.

Building on these incredible advances, Air Force leaders packaged stealth with electronic warfare, advanced sensors, increased on-board computer processing power, and advanced communications in the F-22 and F-35 fighters—a collaborative package termed 5th gen. By understanding the combat environment, not just evading detection, 5th-generation aircraft dynamically maximized opportunities while avoiding undue risk.

The combination of stealth and electronic warfare afforded advantages unlike anything ever seen before. Today, other aircraft can achieve parts of this technological equation, but the total integration of these capabilities is what makes 5th-generation aircraft unique.

Enemies can learn to overcome some aspects of 5th-gen technology in isolation, but not the game-changing total package. Just consider what the Israeli Air Force achieved when it struck targets deep inside Iran in 2024: They penetrated some of the most heavily defended airspace on the planet, successfully executed their missions, and all returned safely back to base. Many thought that sort of mission was impossible to survive.

Yet despite the strategic and performance advantage afforded by 5th gen, the United States never bought enough of these jets. The Air Force was originally supposed to acquire 750 F-22s but only ended up with 187. F-35 production was supposed to scale up dramatically in the 2010s, but never did. The original production plans would have provided the Air Force with 800 F-35s by 2020, but it ended up with just 272. That’s why USAF fighters today average a quarter century in age, and why Air Force pilots are increasingly at risk against advanced enemy threats.

There are many reasons for this imbalance. Most tie to inadequate defense budgets. As retired Gen. Herbert “Hawk” Carlisle, former commander of Air Combat Command, explained: “We [thought we had] a brief period where, given the counterterrorism fight and other situations in the world … we could take risk in the fighter force structure and get to 5th generation. We took that risk, we never got to 5th gen, and by the way, the world changed and is significantly more challenging and demanding than … we thought it was going to be in 2010.”  

Carlisle is hardly alone in his assessment. Gen. Mark “Grace” Kelly, another former ACC commander, remarked in 2022: “It’s like a bill that comes to your house … for 60 multirole fighter squadrons.”

It’s why Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin recently declared: “America needs more Air Force and it needs it now.”

We must heed these warnings. Resetting this glaring air superiority gap will require a multifaceted approach. New operational concepts and capabilities, like collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) and the newly announced F-47 next-generation air dominance fighter, will be key parts of the equation.

But the fastest, most effective way to boost the combat today remains buying more F-35s.

While it is no secret that the F-35 has suffered its share of development challenges, the aircraft are nevertheless the most capable, most affordable, and most effective combat jet in production, costing less than other fighters in production.

Time is not on America’s side. The nation must either take decisive steps to grow capacity now, or accept that we will fall short when a crisis erupts. That risks strategic defeat. Aircraft take time to build. Pilots and maintainers cannot learn their trade overnight.

We must invest now to cultivate the deterrent force America needs to secure peace through strength, or fight and win we must. It is time to get serious about the F-35.

Doug Birkey is Executive Director of AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. 

Memorial Day Remembrance

Memorial Day Remembrance

May 23, 2025 | By AFA Chaplain, Maj. Gen. Steven A. Schaick, USAF (Ret.)

President John F. Kennedy said, “A nation reveals itself not only by the men (and women) it produces, but also by the men (and women) … it remembers.” Memorial Day led many of us to cemeteries, memorials, and flag poles in remembrance of Americans who died in service of their country. President Kennedy reminded us that Memorial Day doesn’t just hearken the memory of the fallen, but it serves also to alert adversaries of the very soul of our republic.

Little did I know that my assignment to Arlington National Cemetery as a young chaplain would be the pinnacle of my career. Chaplain, Col. Joe Matthews paved the way for my transfer from (now) JB Anacostia-Bolling Air Force Base, D.C., to Arlington, and in so doing crafted the apex of my career. For at Arlington, every day is Memorial Day. At Arlington, every day is a day that we honor America’s finest and proclaim to the world the stuff American is made of. 

I remember the glorious fall day my spotless shoes sank into ripples of dirt as I stood inches from the walnut casket that held the remains of a WWII veteran. I sensed that my committal prayers were already a fading memory. Raising my right hand, gloved in white, I offered to a gathering of 40 mourners my favorite benediction:

“Day is done,” I said, “gone the sun. From the lake, from the hills, from the sky. All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.”

My eyes surveyed the 50 or 60 mourners standing with me at graveside.

My benediction continued …

“Go now in the name of the One who promises never to leave us nor forsake us; go now in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

            My right hand returned sharply to my side. My steel-plated heels clinked together as I snapped to attention. My salute signaled the Honor Guard to begin military honors.

            A noncommissioned officer snapped to attention barking orders from his distant post. Seven riflemen aimed their weapons high over the casket. The sound of M-1s pierced both the cloud-studded sky and the souls of mourners.

            Crack….

            Crack….

            Crack….

            Even the most stubborn of tears were liberated.

            Following three rifle volleys, a lone bugler sounded the haunting melody of “Taps.”

            Six Guardsmen in tailored ceremonial blues began to fold the flag that had draped the casket of our honored veteran. Snaps and slaps sounded as gloved hands forged a lifeless cotton flag into a sturdy reminder of Revolutionary War headgear and the core of American patriotism.

            With eerie silence, the folded flag rolled methodically through the hands of Honor Guardsmen to mine. With my right hand on top and left hand beneath, the blue and white flag froze in my grasp as the senior pallbearer offered a slow and dignified salute.

            I studied the flag, looking for evidence of red stripes bleeding through. A properly folded flag must show only nine stars set in a field of blue.

            The flag was now mine.

            My mission was to use that flag to help fill a barren heart and empty hands with meaning and hope.

Agreement Ensures Access to UK-US Base on Diego Garcia for Next Century

Agreement Ensures Access to UK-US Base on Diego Garcia for Next Century

May 22, 2025 | By John A. Tirpak

The U.K. and the U.S. will continue to enjoy access to the ports, airfield, and workshops at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for at least another century, under a deal inked between the U.K. and Mauritius May 22.

The agreement transfers sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago—of which Diego Garcia is the largest island—to Mauritius, but permits the U.K. and U.S. continued exclusive access to the military infrastructure on the island for another 99 years, with an option for 40 years more beyond that. The U.K. government said the deal, which also includes an annual lease payment and Mauritius agreeing not to allow any interference with base operations, was essential to keep “adversary” nations from establishing a presence in the archipelago.

Although America was not a signatory to the agreement, U.S. officials praised the deal, and the British government highlighted the important role the base plays for one of its closest allies.

“Diego Garcia is a vital military base for the U.S.,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a post on X. “The U.K.’s (very important) deal with Mauritius secures the operational capabilities of the base and key U.S. national security interests in the region. We are confident the base is protected for many years ahead.”

The State Department also heralded the deal.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that following “a comprehensive interagency review,” the Trump administration feels that “this agreement secures the long-term stable and effective operation of the joint U.S.-U.K. military facility at Diego Garcia,” he said in a statement. “Although the United States is not a party to this agreement, we remain responsible for operating the U.S. Naval Support Facility on Diego Garcia, which continues to play a vital role in supporting forward-deployed operational forces and advancing security across the region,” he said. Rubio said the deal was discussed between Trump and U.K. Prime Minister Kier Starmer at the latter’s recent visit to the White House

The facilities at Diego Garcia have been used and upgraded by the U.S. and U.K. for the last 50 years, at which time the local residents were forced off the island to make way for military construction. It saw heavy utilization as an operating location and waystation for U.S. bombers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, fighters, aerial tankers, and other platforms during the 1991 and 1993 Gulf Wars and throughout the war in Afghanistan. It is a routine operating location during peacetime, but with rotational forces.

The Navy also has extensive berthing capabilities at the island, which can handle nuclear submarines and elements of a carrier battle group.

The Air Force positioned six B-2 bombers at Diego Garcia between March and May, marking the longest and largest overseas deployment for the stealth bomber, during which some of the aircraft conducted strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, in what Washington may also have meant as a message to Iran, as the the base is some 2,600 miles from Tehran. The stealth bombers were swapped out for B-52s earlier this month. The U.S. also recently deployed F-15s to the island to protect it.

The Air Force positioned four inflatable, environment-controlled hangars at the base to permit maintenance of the B-2’s stealth coatings during the deployment.

A U.K. Ministry of Defense press release said the location is “strategically critical” and “irreplaceable” to the U.K. and U.S.,

The base’s availability to allied nations has been “one of our most significant contributions to the transatlantic defense and security partnership,” the British MOD said. The agreement “ensures its continued operation for at least the next century, protecting capabilities essential to U.K. intelligence and counter-terrorism.”

The MOD also called the facility a “critical logistics hub” in the region, and forces based there “protect vital shipping lanes.”

The deal calls for the U.K. to pay Mauritius about $140 million a year as a lease on the island, and permits Chagossians relocated from the island group by Britain in 1975 to return to all of the islands except Diego Garcia. There will also be development grants of varying amounts from U.K. agencies, collectively worth about $5 billion.

In addition to a deep-water port and extended runway, Diego Garcia hosts “advanced communications and surveillance capabilities,” the MOD said, “which have played a key role in missions to disrupt high-value terrorists, including Islamic State threats to the U.K.”

Negotiations over the base have been underway for two years.

The British government said that not just the U.S. and the U.K. will benefit.

“Crucially, all Five Eyes partners—the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand—back the agreement, along with India, recognizing the critical role Diego Garcia plays in upholding global stability and deterring adversaries,” the MOD said.

“As the world becomes more dangerous, our military base on Diego Garcia becomes more important,” said U.K. Defense Minister John Healy. “Without this base, our ability to deter terrorists, defend our interests, and protect our troops around the world would be at risk. This agreement will safeguard our national and economic security for generations to come.”   

The MOD also said the deal allows the U.K. to retain control of, and continue to operate, “the electromagnetic spectrum satellite used for communications, vital for countering hostile interference.” The base hosts a ground antenna for the Global Positioning System and part of Space Force’s Ground-Based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance (GEODSS) system. The island also employs nuclear test ban monitoring equipment.

As part of the deal, Mauritius agreed to a 24-nautical-mile buffer zone around the island “where nothing can be built or placed without U.K. consent,” the MOD noted. No “activities” will be permitted on the neighboring islands—some more than 50 miles away—that would disrupt base operations, and no development can take within the archipelago without “a rigorous process of joint decision-making” and U.K. approval.

Moreover, there will be “a strict ban on foreign security forces on the outer islands, whether civilian or military,” and a “binding obligation” that the base “is never undermined.”

The MOD said agreeing to the treaty was a must, otherwise “the land, sea and air operations of the base would become inoperable; doing nothing was not an option.” It also said that the deal “was the only route to securing the future of the base and preventing the U.K.’s adversaries from establishing a presence in the region.”

The base has played host to units from Australia, France, Japan, and South Korea.

Various international courts and tribunals have indicated that the U.K. could not continue its sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago, and that London has determined “the U.K. would not have a realistic prospect of successfully defending its legal position on sovereignty” in litigation, the U.K. Foreign Ministry said.

The Chagos Archipelago has a population of about 4,000 people. It was separated from Mauritius by the U.K. in 1965 and purchased for about $4 million, but Mauritius has successfully argued in international court that it was forced to cede the islands as the price of independence from the U.K.

B-52s Kick Off Bomber Deployment to Spain

B-52s Kick Off Bomber Deployment to Spain

May 22, 2025 | By Chris Gordon

B-52H Stratofortress bombers have arrived in Spain to kick off a new European deployment as the Air Force looks to make its nuclear-armed fleets more flexible.

The Air Force said in a news release that the bombers would operate from “smaller, more flexible locations across Europe and Africa,” a concept the service has also rehearsed with fighter, cargo, and refueling aircraft.

Recent bomber task force missions to Europe have operated mainly out of RAF Fairford, U.K., with long-range flights and air refueling extending their missions.

Two B-52s arrived at Morón Air Base May 20, a defense official told Air & Space Forces Magazine. The bombers are from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., and deployed as the 23rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron with tail numbers 60-0044 and 60-0004.

“Bomber Task Force Europe is a clear signal of peace through the strength of airpower,” Lt. Gen. Jason T. Hinds, deputy commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa, said in a statement. “This BTF deployment will ensure our forces remain resilient, dynamic, and capable of responding to evolving security challenges with speed and precision.”

U.S. defense officials did not preview the missions the bombers planned to conduct during the deployment. The Pentagon typically declines to comment on upcoming bomber operations.

The U.S. is not the only global power flexing its long-range strike capability. On May 20, the same day the B-52s arrived in Europe, two Russian TU-95 strategic bombers flew over the Barents Sea, according to Russia’s Ministry of Defense. The bombers appear to have been carrying air-launched cruise missiles, which are visible in a video released by the Russian government.

The B-52s appear not to have conducted any missions out of Morón since arriving in Spain, according to flight tracking data, though they hooked up with KC-46A Pegasus refuelers from McConnell Air Base, Kan., on their way across the Atlantic.

It is Minot’s second bomber task force deployment of the year to Europe, following another that ended in March. One of the bombers in the current rotation, 60-0044, also participated in the earlier visit, which was based at RAF Fairford and carried out missions across Europe and the Middle East.

Morón Air Base has been a strategic location for the Air Force since the 1950s, when it first served as a key Cold War bomber base and has routinely housed U.S. bombers since then. The U.S. no longer maintains a continuous bomber presence overseas but sends them abroad multiple times a year for training exercises with foreign allies and partners.

U.S. conflicts in the Middle East have also led to rare bomber combat deployments. Four B-52s are currently stationed on the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, home to a joint U.S.-U.K. base. Those bombers arrived after six B-2 Spirit stealth bombers participated in the U.S. campaign against the Houthis in Yemen from late March to early May, when the U.S. agreed to a ceasefire with the group. 

In November, six B-52s from Minot headed to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, for a 45-day combat deployment, during which they bombed Islamic State group targets in Syria.

GOP Spending Bill Heads to Senate With $150 Billion for Defense Programs

GOP Spending Bill Heads to Senate With $150 Billion for Defense Programs

May 22, 2025 | By Rachel S. Cohen

Republicans aim to funnel billions of dollars into some of the Air Force’s top-priority programs as part of a divisive bill the GOP may be able to enact without Democratic support.

The sweeping tax and spending package narrowly passed the House, 215-214, in a nearly party-line vote early May 22. The legislation now heads to the Senate, where the Republican-led chamber has vowed to revise it.

Defense provisions tucked into the bill look to fast-track President Donald Trump’s signature “Golden Dome” missile defense initiative, boost military aircraft production and further subsidize military housing, among other projects. 

The legislation, which offers the Pentagon almost $150 billion over the next decade, comes as the U.S. warns it is lagging behind Russia and China in designing cutting-edge military technologies like hypersonic missiles.

“After years of chronic underinvestment, our defense industrial base and military capacity have dangerously atrophied to the point where we may no longer be able to sustain a prolonged conflict,” House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) said in a May 22 statement. “The One Big, Beautiful Bill provides long overdue resources to modernize our military, revitalize the defense industrial base, and improve the quality of life for our service members.”

The bill offers $3.2 billion to increase production of the Air Force’s F-15EX fighter, a fleet the service has sought to pare back amid budget constraints, and $4.5 billion to accelerate the new B-21 Raider bomber. It also provides $678 million to speed the effort to field Collaborative Combat Aircraft drones for Air Force fighters and $400 million for the F-47 program, which is expected to create the Air Force’s most advanced fighter yet.

Lawmakers want to put money toward blocking the retirement of some F-22 and F-15E fighters, which the Air Force has argued are growing too old to succeed in future wars, and to build more C-130J cargo planes, EA-37B electronic attack jets, and MH-139 patrol helicopters. The Air Force may also receive $1.5 billion to continue designing Sentinel, a new ground-based nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile, and $2.1 billion for “readiness packages to keep Air Force aircraft mission capable,” the bill said.

Another $4.3 billion would go toward classified military space programs, plus $15.2 billion to develop new missile defenses from space. It’s unclear which pieces of the legislation are part of a $25 billion initial investment the White House has sought for its Golden Dome plan, which heavily relies on sensors and interceptors in space to shield the U.S. from a host of airborne threats.

Other provisions would allow the Pentagon to pay military housing landlords more money to build more homes, and to offer a larger housing stipend to troops living in the barracks or dormitories. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that letting the Defense Department pay for up to 60 percent of a new privatized housing project would lead to one extra construction project per year, at a cost of $500 million for each. The package doesn’t specify how much troops could see their Basic Allowance for Housing rise.

The bill also boosts spending on shipbuilding, efforts to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, cybersecurity, and more.

The 1,118-page bill, formally known as a budget reconciliation package, allows Republicans to pursue key pieces of the party’s agenda without any Democratic votes. Reconciliation bills can skirt a filibuster in the Senate by requiring only a simple majority of 51 votes to pass, rather than 60. Republicans currently hold 53 seats in the Senate.

In a Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump applauded the House for clearing the bill and urged the Senate to approve it as quickly as possible. Multiple Republican senators have pushed back on the package’s cuts to Medicaid and other provisions, as well as the prospect of adding nearly $4 trillion to the U.S. deficit.

The bill would provide almost $2 billion for defense in 2025 before ramping up to $40.3 billion in 2026, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Defense spending under the reconciliation bill would peak in 2027 at $42 billion.

It’s unclear how it might affect the Trump administration’s full 2026 budget request that is still in the works.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) has criticized the administration’s $893 billion topline for defense spending next year, warning the White House not to rely on the reconciliation bill to power its priorities instead of asking for an adequate annual budget. The federal government is operating under a stopgap spending bill in the absence of fresh funding for 2025, and the administration has not yet released details of what it wants in 2026.

“The Big, Beautiful Reconciliation Bill was always meant to change fundamentally the direction of the Pentagon on programs like Golden Dome, border support, and unmanned capabilities—not to paper over [the Office of Management and Budget’s] intent to shred to the bone our military capabilities and our support to service members,” Wicker said in a statement earlier this month.

Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate panel, has aired concerns that the Pentagon will view the money as a “slush fund” without more specific directions on how to spend it.

But those loose rules create “transformational” opportunities for the Pentagon, argued John Ferrari, a fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. The bill allows for flexibility in funding ideas rather than particular programs alone, like offering $1.1 billion to expand the industrial base for small drones.

“This is a triumph and should defeat the notorious valley-of-death funding while also getting rid of the traditional ‘mother-may-I’ approach to acquisition, where every time a program moved to a different step in its maturation, a different ‘color of money’ was needed from Congress,” he said in a May 8 blog post.

The bill also allows the military to sidestep asking Congress for permission to launch a new program using that money, Ferrari said. Most of the funding would also remain available even if lawmakers fail to pass an annual budget.

Ferrari also echoed Wicker’s concern that the reconciliation bill may prompt lower defense spending overall.

“While Congress is boldly moving our defense establishment into the future, the administration may have decided to slow down,” he said. “The administration has time to correct this oversight and if it does not, then the Congress can correct it as part of the 2026 appropriation process.”

Senators will now hash out their own version of the package before sending it back to the House for approval or working with the House on further changes. POLITICO reported May 22 that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) wants to move the bill through the chamber by July 4.