Air Force

The Air Force today formally released its Arctic strategy -- which calls for enhanced missile defense, space and polar mobility capabilities, greater collaboration with allies and partners in the Arctic region and improved and expanded readiness and training exercises.

The House voted 241-173 today against an amendment to the defense authorization bill that would have removed an existing law requiring the Pentagon to send Congress an annual list of unfunded priorities.

Lawmakers are looking to add $50 million to the fiscal year 2021 defense budget to further development of a prototype "micro" nuclear reactor capable of generating up to 10 megawatts of electricity, a potential capability that could give the U.S. military -- one of the largest energy consumers in the world -- a revolutionary new way to power installations and possible more.

The 16th Air Force has reached full operational capability to target adversaries the government says are interfering in the U.S. electoral process, stealing intellectual property and posing other threats in the "information environment."

Boeing expects to finish the first phase of flight testing for its KC-46 Remote Vision System 1.5 upgrade effort this week -- a near-term enhancement the company has pitched to the Air Force to iteratively improve the system before a full upgrade is completed.

The $23 billion indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity F-15EX contract the Air Force awarded Boeing this week could allow the service to buy up to 200 jets, a service spokesman confirmed today.

House lawmakers are proposing a $170 million cut to the Air Force's fiscal year 2021 funding request for the Long Range Standoff Weapon and are recommending a study into the government's backup plans if the new cruise missile's warhead faces a production delay.

The House is poised to pass legislation that gradually ramps up "Buy American" requirements on the Defense Department's largest programs of record, but industry representatives and analysts say the "arbitrary" rules could trip up important weapons developments and hurt international cooperation on defense programs.

Powerful House appropriators want to eliminate the Pentagon's controversial Overseas Contingency Operations account and return the department to annual supplemental funding requests, potentially sending defense officials scrambling to fill multibillion-dollar budget holes, according to documents obtained by Inside Defense.