WASHINGTON: The Air Force Chief of Staff appeared to be talking about putting nuclear-armed bombers back on 24-hour alert, but the man who’d make the decision, the head of Strategic Command, wasn’t. After my colleague Marcus Weisgerber reported that Gen. David Goldfein said the Air Force was considering putting bombers back on alert, I checked with… Keep reading →

  If SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s can adapt his reusable rockets for international passenger travel, his company could soon send people and cargo around the world much faster than can the U.S. Air Force. Musk has realized that the same reusable rockets he is building for missions beyond Earth orbit can also be used to do… Keep reading →

AFA: The senior leadership of the Air Force will decide at the late October Corona meeting at the Air Force Academy whether to take the cyber force from Air Force Space Command and merge it with Air Combat Command‘s ISR force. Why, you ask, would they combine the 24th Air Force with the 25th Air… Keep reading →

ABOVE DULLES AIRPORT: Eager to get out its message that the Boeing-Leonardo MH-139 helicopter would save the US taxpayer $1 billion as the replacement of the UH-1N helicopter, Boeing flew several journalists this afternoon to demonstrate its capabilities. (Boeing’s Rick Lemaster makes the case in our video above). Boeing also delivered nine boxes to the… Keep reading →

HUNTSVILLE, ALA.: The morning the news broke that North Korea could tip its ICBMs with nuclear warheads, the US general in charge of strategic deterrence said we could a learn a lot from Kim Jong-un. America prides itself on innovation, but today, said Gen. John Hyten, in matters military, our adversaries are innovating faster because… Keep reading →

ARLINGTON: A brand-new ICBM may cost the nation more than $85 billion, but keeping the geriatric Minuteman will cost even more. That’s according to Boeing, the aerospace giant that began building the original Minuteman I in 1958 and has maintained the much-modified Minuteman III since 1970. Sure, the company can reset the odometer on the… Keep reading →

OMAHA: Strategic Command chief Gen. John Hyten today confirmed, more than two months after news first broke of a shift, that he’s ordered a series of sweeping changes at STRATCOM. Basically, he got rid of the Joint Functional Component Commands for space, global strike, cyber, integrated missile defense, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and whittled them… Keep reading →

SPACE SYMPOSIUM: Offensive war in space is one of the truly hot button defense policy issues. Advocates say it is inevitable. Opponents say it violates the ideal of a cosmos marked for exploration and peaceful coexistence. Some say war in space would violate the Outer Space Treaty, which bars nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass… Keep reading →

UPDATED: Adds Rep. Rogers’ Speech Calling For New Space Service; Rep. Lamborn Saying No SPACE SYMPOSIUM: What’s in a name? When Gen. John Hyten, head of Strategic Command, announced the new name for the JICSPOC today, it marked a fundamental transformation of the US national security establishment to a much closer integration of the Intelligence… Keep reading →

SCHRIEVER AIR FORCE BASE: Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who spent five years pushing the National Reconnaissance Office and the military to work more closely together, saw the effects today during a tour of the JICSPOC, the experimental effort to improve battle management of America’s satellites. Inside the heavily guarded secure facility where most of America’s satellites are flown and… Keep reading →