The Challenge of Funding Golden Dome By Courtney Albon HUNTSVILLE, Ala.—The four-star general in charge of the Pentagon’s Golden Dome program warned that uncertainty around the Pentagon’s $350 billion reconciliation request could slow progress on the homeland missile defense effort,...
defense
The 25 years since 9/11 have been disastrous for our military air and space enterprise. Decades of nonstop military operations exhausted the Air Force, and the cost of ongoing ground operations led the Pentagon to delay and sometimes forgo modernization. The Air Force contracted as ...
JB Charleston Gets a New Name By Chris Gordon CHARLESTON, S.C.—A major East Coast military base that serves as a key Air Force logistics hub was renamed after the late Sen. Lindsey Graham Aug. 10 in a ceremony led by...
Space operators have long stayed mum about their contributions to U.S. military operations. But as the Space Force approaches its seventh birthday and Gen. B. Chance Saltzman prepares to retire as Chief of Space Operations later this summer, Space Force leaders are beginning to speak ...
Since Russia’s 2022 invasion, outside observers have measured Ukraine’s prospects by a familiar yardstick: miles of territory gained or lost on the ground. By that standard, the war often appears static, attritional, and brutally expensive. But Ukraine is now demonstrating...
Brussels; Mons, Belgium; Bodø, Norway; Luleå, Sweden; and Rovaniemi, Finland—This is not your father’s NATO anymore. It’s changing. The question is whether it will make the alliance stronger or diminish its capabilities. The North Atlantic Treaty Alliance is undergoing a...
Much has been said about how drones are changing the character of war. Ukraine and Iran offer different versions of the same lesson: relatively inexpensive, precise, long-range weapons are democratizing attack. They allow states that lack a traditional air force—or...
Department of War? Closer to Official Name Change. Three of four congressional committees with influence over defense policy have voted to change the official name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War—but final approval of the Pentagon...
ACC Battle Lab Seeks Counter-Drone Weapons By Matthew Cox The Air Force Point Defense Battle Lab is searching for more defense firms to demonstrate counter-drone capabilities at upcoming exercises designed to test base defenses against unmanned aerial attack. For the...
A collection of quotes on airpower, space power, and national security issues.
New KC-46 Vision System Slips to ’28 By Matthew Cox The Air Force says it has formed a plan with Boeing to get key upgrades deployed across the KC-46 tanker fleet faster—but the service acknowledged it won’t start fielding the...
Aircraft Total Active Inventory (TAI) as of Sept. 30, 2025.