defense news

Pentagon Widening Search for SPACECOM, Space Force Bases

March 3, 2020 | By Rachel S. Cohen
Space Force Vice Commander Lt. Gen. David Thompson indicated the military will add new locations to the list of bases under consideration for U.S. Space Command headquarters, saying some unexpected places could become home to parts of the new Space Force as well. “We’re now ...

USAF Still 2,100 Pilots Short of Goal

March 3, 2020 | By Rachel S. Cohen and Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory
The Air Force needs 2,100 more pilots to reach its goal of 21,000 aviators, indicating that efforts to stem the pilot shortage have not yet been successful. “Increasing production of new aviators remains the most significant lever we have to arrest aircrew shortages,” service officials ...

US Sends Message to Russia, China in Africa

March 3, 2020 | By Brian W. Everstine
The Air Force recently sent an unexpected aircraft over the village of Kismayo, a rural town on the Somali coast that has been a hotbed of extremist activity by groups such as al-Shabab. A nuclear-capable B-52, forward deployed to U.S. Central Command, flew an unmistakable ...

Goldfein: USAF Won’t Use KC-46 Unless It Has To

March 3, 2020 | By Rachel S. Cohen
Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein told Senate legislators March 3 the service will not use the new KC-46 tanker unless absolutely necessary to fight a powerful adversary. The wide-ranging Senate Armed Services Committee hearing—the first of multiple chances the Air Force has this week ...

Roper: The ARRW Hypersonic Missile Better Option for USAF

March 2, 2020 | By John A. Tirpak
The Air Force picked the AGM-183 Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon hypersonic missile over the Hypersonic Conventional Strike Weapon because it's more advanced and is a better match to the Air Force's needs, and the HCSW just didn't fit in an overcrowded budget, service acquisition chief ...