Air Mobility Command chief Gen. John Lamontagne — one of several new military nominees submitted by the White House on Monday — would fill a role left vacant since the firing of Gen. James Slife in February.
A recent Air Force document provides the clearest insight yet into the service’s evolving tanker strategy, as well as what might be needed to continue the production run of Boeing’s KC-46 Pegasus air refueler.
Breaking Defense Europe will launch May 4 with Tim Martin and Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo as co-editors.
Complex logistical calculations can take hours or days. With Air Mobility Command’s new ARTIV software, “the run to get all of that data takes between five and 10 minutes," according to retired Gen. Paul Selva, whose company makes the tech.
The president has tapped Lt. Gen. Steven Nordhaus, a former F-16 pilot and current head of the Continental US NORAD region, to lead the National Guard Bureau, replacing Army Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson.
Air Mobility Command documents say they're interested counter-drone systems, including platforms that can operate near friendly aircraft, so as not to hypothetically accidentally jam or spoof a nearby vice president's plane.
A senior Space Force official said the Air Force was getting "rid" of the current structure as part of a great power reoptimization, but later walked back his comments as "not concrete."
Do more with less: streamline workflows, reduce duplication, invest upfront to save long-term.
Department of the Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall's letter didn’t specify what “broader and more comprehensive” changes officials are examining, though he did note the review is set to conclude by January 2024.
“So when you have this mix of [major command]-retained [operational control] — those forces coming into another combatant commander’s theater, where he’s got his own theater-assigned forces — you can imagine that there may be some differences,” said Air Force Maj. Gen. John Klein.
Open source info showed the KC-46 refueling aircraft over the skies of Poland and Germany this week, and Air Force officials confirmed its support of "real-world, theater operational missions."
"We have to demonstrate a resolve as a country and as an alliance that prevents the worst-case scenario from happening or nobody's going to care how much [readiness] I preserved for the future," Air Mobility Command head Gen. Mike Minihan said in an exclusive interview.
Government can’t stop to update systems, so modernization has to happen without interruptions.
The Air Force worries that if it approves Remote Vision System 2.0 before concerns about the tanker's panoramic display system are resolved, it could be locked into paying for a fix.
Doug Loverro, the former deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy, lays out a news structure for how the Space Force should look at commercial space assets.
TRANSCOM can now task KC-46 tankers to use their air refueling boom to fill up C-17 Globemaster III, B-52H Stratofortress and other KC-46 aircraft during day-to-day operations.
"We still have several more years of procurement of the KC-46. So, the good thing is we have time to have these conversations, and look at the technologies out there," Lt. Gen. David Nahom told appropriators today.