Friday, April 26, 2024
Key Issues Optical clocks Prototype funding SPAFORGEN
Courtney Albon was senior editor for aviation and space at Inside Defense until December 2021. She covered the Air Force since 2012, reporting largely on space programs and fighter aircraft acquisition, development and budget from inside Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, and from military installations around the United States. Courtney previously worked as a general assignment reporter at The Ashland Times-Gazette in Ashland, OH, covering education and local government. She graduated from American University in 2008, where she studied journalism and sociology.
The Air Force confirmed this week that Congress has released some of the funds fenced off from its Weather Satellite Follow-on program after the service wrote a letter noting concerns that without funding, a contract for a key, enabling demonstration mission could be held at risk.
The Air Force is worried a long-term continuing resolution that caps the quantities of Boeing-built KC-46 tankers the service can buy next year could break contractual production agreements and slow a key delivery milestone for the already-delayed program.
Some must-reads from this week's edition of Inside the Air Force.
The Air Force expects that the fiscal year 2018 budget will include funding to begin development of follow-on systems for its missile warning and protected satellite communications constellations after several years of working to make sure the potential solutions are resilient and adaptable to new and future threats in space.
A slight delay in the Air Force's plans to award a contract for a follow-on to the Space-Based Space Surveillance satellite program won't impact plans to launch the first satellite in 2021.
The Air Force's new office of energy assurance is working to align efforts to maintain a cleaner, cheaper and more resilient energy supply at its installations, a movement service leaders say is growing increasingly more important as adversaries threaten the security of key energy sources.
The Air Force's deputy chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration has attempted to close the door on the discussion of whether the Air Force will eventually pursue a mobile basing option for its replacement intercontinental ballistic missile, the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent.
The Air Force has released a solicitation for what it hopes will be a competitive effort to choose a launch vehicle for the third next-generation GPS satellite.
The chief of Air Combat Command said this week he's not sure whether a low-end A-10 replacement designed to operate in a permissive environment makes sense in light of evolving threats.
The chief of Air Force Air Combat Command has declared initial operational capability for the service's variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, saying the aircraft is prepared to deploy in combat if needed and noting that he expects the aircraft will begin to conduct training missions in the European and Pacific theaters within 18 months.
The Air Force has provided new insight into its plans to re-open competition in the Three-Dimensional Long-Range Radar program, announcing Aug. 1 that the new effort will include options for full-rate production.
The Air Force today released requests for proposals for the two key nuclear modernization efforts -- the Long-Range Standoff Weapon and the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent.
Driven by a shortage of fighter pilots available to fly combat missions, the Air Force is actively discussing a proposal to hire contractors flying private jets to serve as aggressors in training exercises.
An ongoing Red Flag exercise at Nellis Air Force Base, NV, is placing a greater emphasis on space and cyber integration and is highlighting needed range improvements to better characterize threats and incorporate non-kinetic effects.
Recent analysis from the Government Accountability Office presents options for improving military space acquisition, including a proposal to create a new military "space force" that would be responsible for all military space development and operations.
Although the Air Force has found its stride managing the pitfalls of operating under short-term continuing resolutions, the service's top civilian official said this week she's concerned about the impact a sustained stopgap spending measure could have on munitions levels.
The Air Force expects to declare initial operational capability for its variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter next Tuesday, Aug. 2, multiple sources confirmed to Inside Defense.
The Air Force has released a draft request for proposals for the next-generation T-X trainer family of systems -- a precursor to the final RFP, which it expects to release in December.
The chief of Air Force Global Strike Command thinks the right bomber force size is around 175 aircraft, but an Air Force review to be completed late this fall will validate the requirement.
Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said Tuesday that she has not seen a formal proposal for a possible A-10 replacement, but is concerned about the cost of the effort, which the service reportedly briefed to representatives from several think tanks last week.