The Air Force may well shift toward smaller, less-capable, but more numerous satellites in the coming years, says Gen. Norton Schwartz, Chief of Staff. In November, Air Force Space Command boss Gen. Robert Kehler proposed such an approach at AFA’s Global Warfare Symposium in Los Angeles. (Transcript of Kehler’s comments.) “I think Bob is onto something,” said Schwartz during a Dec. 22 interview (see above). Such an approach would help to get satellite production into more of an assembly-line mode rather than a hand-built mode, and, by being smaller, the satellites would have to have fewer functions, thereby warding off excessive requirements creep, he said. Schwartz said, too, that “economies of scale” also argue for the small-satellite approach. And, smaller satellites offer the opportunity to “better manage cost, schedule, and capability,” he said.
Pentagon Releases Cost of Living, BAH Rates for 2026
Dec. 30, 2025
The Pentagon will pay cost of living allowances to 127,000 service members in the continental U.S. in 2026, an increase of 66,000 members in 2025. Airmen and Guardians across the U.S. will also receive an average increase of 4.2 percent for their Basic Housing Allowance, compared to the 5.4 percent…
