Matthew Cox
Matthew Cox has been a defense reporter since 1998. Prior to working for three years in media relations at Thales, he worked for Military.com from 2011 to 2021, covering Army and Marine Corps readiness and modernizations with a focus on weapons development and procurement. Before that he worked for more than 12 years at Army Times. He focused on modernization, training, and readiness as well as covering light infantry units in combat in both Afghanistan from 2002 to 2008. He also spent four years in the U.S. Army during the second half of the 1980s, serving as an infantryman in the 82nd Airborne Division.
Recent stories by Matthew Cox
Counter-Drone Task Force Taps Directed Energy Systems for December Shoot-Off
The Pentagon’s counter-drone task force recently selected four directed energy weapons it will test in a December shoot-off to identify lasers and microwave systems that could defend U.S. military installations from future aerial attacks.
Air Force Leaders Elevate Point Defense as a Key Air Warfare Mission
Flying and fixing aircraft remains the Air Force’s reason for being, but protecting air bases from attack is becoming an essential component that makes those possible. Following attacks on air bases across the Middle East during Operation Epic Fury, point defense was among the hottest ...
Air Force Adjusting Plan for Maintenance Career Overhaul from Just 7 AFSCs to 14
The Air Force will officially kick off a major overhaul of maintenance career field next year with a pilot program, but the plan for the revamp is still evolving—while officials once intended to condense 50 aircraft maintenance specialties down to just seven, now they are ...
Two Guardians Just Became the First Space Force Grads of Army Jungle School
Space Force Maj. Alyson Gleason and Capt. Stephen Richard just gave their highly technical service a tougher image by becoming the first Guardians to endure 18 punishing days of training to graduate from the Jungle Operations Training Course in Panama.
Airmen, Guardians Told to Select Religion Code from New Consolidated List
Active-Duty Airmen and Guardians have until mid-October to update their personnel records with their religious preference using the Pentagon’s new consolidated list of Religious Affiliation Codes, according to a recent Department of the Air Force announcement.
8,000 Airmen and Guardians Still Have Medical Shaving Waivers After Policy Changes
Around 8,000 Airmen and Guardians currently have medical waivers exempting them from shaving—thousands less than just a few years ago but still about half of all the waivers across the U.S. military. The revelation comes shortly after the Department of the Air Force started directing ...
Air Force Set Up a Depot in UK During Epic Fury for Faster Battle Repairs
Air Force depots are not typically meant for quick repair jobs, but during Operation Epic Fury, the service moved some of its stateside heavy maintenance capability forward to fix battle-damaged aircraft closer to the fight.
New AMC Boss Open to Unmanned Next-Gen Tanker
The new head of Air Mobility Command said Sept. 16 he wants to explore an unmanned option for the service’s next-generation aerial refueling system.
AETC Boss Maps Path for New T-7 to Reach Initial Operational Capability
The Air Force is targeting August 2027 for its new T-7A Red Hawk trainer jet to reach its initial operational capability. To get there, the head of Air and Education Training has three milestones he needs to see the program hit.
F-117, the Original Stealth Fighter, Will Join Smithsonian Collection
The Air Force F-117A Nighthawk—America’s first stealth fighter—will soon go on display among other iconic aircraft at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum's Udva-Hazy Center outside Washington, D.C.
CMSAF to Airmen: Use AI or ‘End Up in Everyone’s Rearview Mirror’
Today’s Airmen are going to have to embrace artificial intelligence the same way Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David R. Wolfe learned to love desktop computers and email in the 1990s, the senior enlisted Airman said Sept. 14 during AFA’s Air, Space & ...
Air Force Leaders Say Point Defense Is No Longer ‘Side Hustle,’ Eye Acquisition Changes
Air Force officials are exploring the idea of creating a new acquisition office to oversee the point defense mission, in the service’s latest move to intensify its focus on defending airbases from drone and missile attacks, Air Force Secretary Troy E. Meink said Sept. 14, ...
Air Force Will Hit Long-Elusive Goal to Train 1,500 New Pilots in a Year
The Air Force is on track to reach its annual goal of graduating 1,500 new pilots that had proved elusive to this point, one year after the service launched a sweeping overhaul of its undergraduate pilot training program, Air Education and Training Command said Sept. ...
Air Force BMT Puts Finishing Touches on 1st Airbase Training Range—and Plans for More
Under a late summer sun, Air Force basic trainees practice safely rearming a retired F-16 Fighting Falcon at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, with mock AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles. Nearby, a bulldozer levels the ground where the rest of this first new airbase training range will ...
Combat Weather Airmen Stressed to Their Limits in Army Competition
In the small world of Air Force weather specialists, combat weather specialists are a niche unto themselves, deploying with Army ground units to provide forecasts and, if need be, fight alongside those Soldiers. For Staff Sgt. Francisco Estrada, the hardest part of the job isn’t ...
