We Thought You Had That Covered: Defense Department officials are keeping details of the Air Force-Navy AirSea Battle concept out of public view “by design,” according to Gen. Philip Breedlove, USAF’s vice chief of staff. “We agreed from the outset that AirSea Battle would never be a glossy document” available for public perusal, he said last week at AFA’s Global Warfare Symposium in Los Angeles. “We don’t want to advertize to the world” what the two services are planning in order to cope with burgeoning anti-access, area-denial threats, he said. “It’s classified,” said Breedlove of the concept. In fact, “some of it is very classified,” he noted. That’s because the two service completely revealed their secrets to each other, sometimes with disquieting results, he explained. The reaction to some revelations was, “Oh my gosh, I thought you were doing that [mission or pursuing that capability] and you’re not,” related Breedlove. He also said, “You will soon hear that we need to bring the Army into” AirSea Battle because the problem of tactical ballistic missiles is particularly thorny and the Army is “a huge part” of the solution. “We have to break the effects chain” of TBMs, said Breedlove during his Nov. 18 address.
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
