Intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft are among the Air Force's most-requested assets worldwide, but the service wants to cut back the number of combat air patrols it supports with ISR on any given day so it can free up funds in the fiscal 2022 budget ...
ISR
The Air Force is upgrading some 70 MQ-9 Reapers to a new configuration that will keep the type capable and relevant to the near-peer fight for another 15 years. It awarded General Atomics a $272.3 million contract to enhance the Reaper's weapons, electric power, connectivity, ...
The Pentagon could save a lot of money on personnel and increase force structure with expanded use of “remotely crewed” systems, but the diversity of size and application of such systems demands specialized thinking, rather than just lumping them together as “drones,” according to experts ...
U.S. Southern Command is turning to big data and artificial intelligence to gain more leverage on transnational criminal organizations, while also keeping an eye on China’s expansion in the region and monitoring Russia’s disinformation efforts. SOUTHCOM boss Adm. Craig S. Faller, both in testimony to ...
A sharp increase in deterrence funding in the Pacific, at a time when defense budgets are expected to shrink, is needed to prove that the region is the Pentagon’s top priority and to address growing needs in surveillance and missile defense, the head of U.S. ...
Unmanned aerial vehicles are fair game for U.S. Special Operations Command’s armed overwatch platform competition, Air Force Special Operations Command boss Lt. Gen. James C. “Jim” Slife told reporters on Feb. 25. However, the MQ-9 Reaper drone might not be up to the challenge in ...
New Space Force guidance directs the service to create entities like a National Space Intelligence Center, begins to set benchmarks for improving the force, and offers insight into future operations. Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond rolled out the planning document Nov. ...
The Senate on Oct. 26 confirmed Maj. Gen. Robert J. Skinner as the next head of the Defense Information Systems Agency, as well as for promotion to lieutenant general. Skinner, who currently oversees command, control, communications, and cyber operations for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii, was ...
The Air Force has an inadequate understanding of China as a potential adversary, service Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. warned Oct. 28. Brown, speaking during a Hoover Institution virtual event, said that while the National Defense Strategy outlines China as a key ...
Three Airmen with the Tennessee Air National Guard’s 118th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Group died Sept. 8 in a small aircraft crash near McMinnville, Tenn. The Airmen are: Lt. Col. Shelli Huether, the director of operations of the 118th Intelligence Support Squadron; Capt. Jessica Wright, ...
The F-35A still isn’t in full production, but it’s proving its effectiveness daily.
A redacted Air Force Inspector General investigation report released Aug. 21 determined that Air National Guard RC-26B flights conducted over protests in Minnesota, Arizona, California, and Washington, D.C, didn’t collect citizens’ personal information, but the National Guard Bureau made some serious missteps in its utilization ...
