F-111s in Vietnam

The Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital is giving a $150 million conditional loan to Rocket Lab meant to increase the launch rate for its new reusable Neutron rocket, which is slated for its first flight next year.

U.S. Africa Command will soon see if a small, autonomous aircraft can evacuate casualties from austere locations during a demonstration planned for December in Morocco. Merlin, an autonomous aviation firm, announced Nov. 11 it has received a $500,000 contract from AFRICOM for the demo mission.

Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David R. Wolfe recently pledged “a plus-up in manpower” for the maintainer ranks, as the service prepares to launch a major overhaul of its maintenance career field next year.

As Congress gets back to business after the midterm elections, uncertainty swirls over the state of government funding that runs out Dec. 11, especially for the Pentagon. New reports from leading defense think tank experts illustrate just how wide the range of outcomes could be.

Space Systems Command recently awarded Viasat a contract with a $450 million ceiling to design and field a mission operations center for the command’s burgeoning Space Data Network.