The Air Force is nearly ready to declare that the Space Based Surveillance System, a satellite designed to look for and monitor space debris, is ready to commence operations, said Air Force Space Command chief Gen. William Shelton. Speaking to reporters last week in Washington, D.C., Shelton said AFSPC will, “in just a few weeks, or even days, make that declaration.” The Air Force launched SBSS into space in September 2010, but Shelton said there have been problems that prevented him from having full confidence in what the satellite was reporting, causing the delay in declaring initial operational capability. “We were having a little trouble with the . . . quality of the data coming off the satellite. And then, we had some problems with the sensor itself,” he said. “It wasn’t anything life threatening to the satellite,” he added during the March 22 media roundtable, but Shelton felt he couldn’t vouch for the info until, apparently, now.
Greece is acquiring at least 20 F-35s in a deal valued at $3.5 billion but could double that number with options. It will continue upgrading some of its F-16s but sell some off, possibly to Ukraine, and offer its French Mirage 2000s and Rafales to other countries, as well.