The ability of USAF to collaborate with allies, industry, academia, and other services around a unified space mission is gaining momentum, according to a panel on interoperability in space at ASC16. Thanks in part to “strong global partnerships and alliances,” a “level of coherence at the senior decision-making level” has focused space operations around the critical category of “threat,” said Winston Beauchamp, deputy undersecretary of the Air Force for Space. Crucial in producing this missional consensus has been a shift toward thinking of space “as an operational domain” where “potential adversaries are testing capabilities against our space assets,” Beauchamp added. While admitting that challenges remain—especially in sharing information across widely varying levels of classification—Beauchamp was optimistic enough about the progress to discount the necessity of a new unified US Space Command. Such a reorganization would mean time wasted “arguing about office space instead of how to protect space,” according to Beauchamp.
F-35 Deliveries Soared to New Record in 2025
Jan. 8, 2026
Lockheed Martin says it delivered 191 F-35 fighters in 2025—just ahead of the goal it set for itself at the beginning of the year as it works to clear a backlog of jets in storage.
