Air Force Space Command is totally embracing its new cyber arm, the 24th Air Force, the command’s No. 2 official said May 1 on Capitol Hill. AFSPC is transferring its ICBM mission to the new Air Force Global Strike Command, while concentrating on totally integrating the emerging cyber mission of the new numbered air force with its space operations, Maj. Gen. Thomas Deppe, AFSPC vice commander, said in remarks at a National Defense University Foundation-hosted event (see above). That’s “our challenge in the months ahead,” Deppe said. Beyond just AFPSC, these efforts are meant to build synergies between processes, training, and skills across the service, he said. AFSPC expects to add about 7,000 airmen to the command with addition of 24th AF. However, the movement of the ICBM mission from AFSPC to AFGSC later this year comes with the transfer of about 10,000 airmen for a net loss of several thousand, AFSPC boss Gen. Robert Kehler said in March.
The advanced F-47 sixth-generation fighter remains on track to fly in the next two years, the senior Air Force acquisition officer overseeing the program said Feb. 25, as the service continues on its ambitious schedule to debut the air superiority-focused fighter by 2028—only three years after the contract was awarded…
