It won’t be cheap. Todd Harrison, defense budget guru at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, tweeted that the larger service could cost an additional $13 billion per year.

Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson laid down what will probably be the signature marker of her term as head of the Air Force, calling today at the Air Force Association conference for 74 new operational squadrons, including five more bomber squadrons, seven more special operations squadrons, 14 more tanker squadrons, seven more fighter squadrons, and 22 more Command and Control Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance squadrons. But, she noted of the larger Air Force she says the nation needs: “It’s not just larger; the way we fight will be different.” Dave Deptula, head of AFA’s Mitchell Institute, analyzes Wilson’s commitment. Read on! The Editor.

The big news about the $674.4 billion defense appropriation that conferees agreed to yesterday is that, for the first time in nine years, it’s on time. But in a budget this big, even the “small” items are billions of dollars, and there are plenty of devils in them thar details.

The Japanese government is spending billions on sea and ground-based missile defenses, but all the talk in the Pentagon is on space, as the U.S. scrambles to meet new hypersonic threats from China and Russia.

There’s no timeline, no cost estimate, and no certainty Trump’s proposed Space Force will even happen. Even the interim step of creating a Space Command is being dialed down, a significant policy shift.

While officials as senior as Chief of Staff Mark Milley have previously talked about Army hypersonics in general terms, today’s statements by both the Army’s Russell and OSD’s Miller were unequivocal: The Army wants a ground-launched hypersonic weapon.

WASHINGTON: If Chinese and Russian spies have been doing their jobs well, they might well have been able to compromise some of America’s most important satellites, including the missile launch detection birds known as SBIRS. A report out today from the Pentagon’s Inspector General says that Air Force Space Command’s failure to safeguard its supply chain… Keep reading →

The State Department and Pentagon are expressing concern over new Russian and Chinese activities in space, while the White House is pushing for the creation of a Space Force.

The White House only has a few objections to this year’s NDAA, and lets Congress know what they are as the Senate gears up for debate.

A year after running a war game across multiple domains, the defense giant’s planners are at it again — with a new plan, and new tech.