US Strategic Command’s space component—Joint Functional Component Command for Space—recently concluded an exercise that allowed the command to practice delivering synchronized space effects through a contested environment. Global Lightning 16 ran from April 23 to April 28, but was in the works for a year, according to a May 3 release. The annual exercise focused on STRATCOM’s capabilities provided to geographic combatant commanders during a crisis or contingency, according to the release. This time, the Commercial Integration Cell, overseen by the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, played a larger role in the exercise and integrated commercial space operators into the Joint Space Operations Center.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
