Lethal, agile, ready: 35 years of Air Force Special Operations Command
Lt. Gen. Mike Conley, Commander of AFSOC, reflects on the importance of the command over its 35 years, and looks ahead to its future.
Air Force special ops CV-22 Ospreys could be ready to deploy in weeks, commander says
“My whole fleet is not operationally running yet, but I have enough capacity and the right crews training to provide the capabilities on the battlefield," AFSOC Commander Lt. Gen. Michael Conley said.
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GPS: Still the gold standard in global navigation
The GPS network continues to prove its unmatched reliability, and it’s only getting stronger.
6 months after fatal V-22 crash, an Air Force Osprey squadron in Japan prepares to fly again
“It's our vocation to go fly this thing,” said 21st Special Operations Squadron commander Lt. Col. Matt Davis in his first interview since a V-22 crash killed eight servicemembers in November.
In a first, Reaper makes highway landing, Air Force says
During a military exercise in Wyoming, an MQ-9 Reaper made history by conducting its first highway landing alongside what the Air Force says is the greatest number of aircraft to pull off the tactic.
AFSOC AC-130J gunship to fire laser weapon in flight test in 2023
Flight demos will take place in summer or fall 2023, but it remains unclear whether development will turn into a bonafide program of record.
AFSOC commander cautiously optimistic on V-22 clutch problem, though root cause elusive
“I was asking myself, what would I say to myself in the aftermath of fatal mishap if we discovered that the reason for this was this clutch issue,” said AFSOC commander Lt. Gen. Jim Slife. “Would I look back and say that I did everything that I could do today? And I couldn't answer that in the affirmative.”
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Next-generation C2 won’t be next-gen without the network transport
The network transport architecture for NGC2 could be a hybrid approach that combines high assurance communications with 5G, WiFi, and multi-orbit satellites.
EXCLUSIVE: Air Force Special Operations Command grounds CV-22 Ospreys due to safety issue
AFSOC Commander Lt. Gen. Jim Slife ordered the safety standdown on Tuesday in the wake of two safety incidents that had occurred over the past six weeks, with a total of four such events occurring since 2017, AFSOC said.
L3Harris Sky Warden attack plane wins SOCOM’s Armed Overwatch program
L3 Harris could produce up to 75 AT-802U Sky Warden aircraft to replace US Special Operations Command's U-28 Draco.
Way up in the air: World View looks to expand customer base for its ‘Stratollite’ balloon
The company has demonstrated the capability to do 'pattern of life' monitoring, staying over a 40 kilometer area for more than four days, said CEO Ryan Hartman.
Air Force Special Operations Expects Amphibious MC-130J Test Next Year
Notably, Slife called out the need to operate in and around “an island environment that is not serviced by a major fixed operating base runway.”
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Data overload threatens decisionmakers as autonomy expands
Reducing cognitive overload on warfighters while improving “time to trust” for autonomous systems is a matter of design.
Could ‘Weather Intelligence’ Take The Pentagon By Storm?
A weather "data coverage gap exists in areas that we operate on a regular basis in the military," says Dan Stillman, director of marketing for Tomorrow.io's space and government division.
Special Ops Undergoing Historic Transformation, AFSOC Says
"The SOF that we have is not the SOF we will need" for the future, head of Air Force Special Ops Command, Lt. Gen. James Slife, warned today.
Anduril Buys Mini-Drone Maker Area-I
The new owners bring venture capital and software expertise to upgrade Area-I’s ALTIUS mini-drone, already a favorite in Army experiments with ‘Air-Launched Effects.’
AFSOC Pitches New Light Attack Plane To Congress
"The whole reason we’re doing this is because the National Defense Strategy talks about the need to do cost effective [counter-terrorism] operations, cost effective irregular warfare,” AFSOC commander Gen. Slife said.