Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz said the Pentagon’s operationally response space activities are setting the stage for future interoperability between satellite buses and payloads as well as space launch vehicles and appropriate command and control capabilities. Defense Department officials are designing each of these components with common technical and procedural standards that will lead to maximum versatility and enhanced affordability, said Schwartz Nov. 19 at AFA’s Global Warfare Symposium in Los Angeles. “This is vital, ladies and gentlemen. As we move forward, fiscal constraints will affect our ability to meet our challenges in space,” he said. Success, he added, will be based on greater innovation in the design, testing, evaluation, and fielding of payloads and spacecraft. “Innovation is, and certainly must be, a lynchpin,” said Schwartz.
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.