The Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group’s ongoing deployment in support of Operation Inherent Resolve is being extended 30 days. The Navy announced the extension of the original seventh-month deployment in a release Friday. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said the move was “central to our ongoing effort to dismantle and roll-back terrorist networks in Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere,” according to the release. During a Monday briefing at the Pentagon, Richardson said the move doesn’t reflect a deficiency in airpower in OIR. “There’s just a recognition of the contribution [of the carrier group],” he said. But OIR airpower wasn’t the only factor the DOD considered when deciding to keep the carrier group on station. “I think it would be very narrow to consider this just in terms of sorties and that sort of thing,” Richardson said. “There’s a broader maritime security that the strike group lends to the region—stability, assurance of allies, that sort of thing—that is also an important part of this extension.” (See also: Tracking Airpower in the AOR.)
Advancements in commercial space technology could make President Donald Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense network far more likely to succeed than the failed “Star Wars” strategic umbrella initiative of the 1980s, U.S. Space Command’s top general said May 22....