Defense & Military

Although work on the Department of Defense’s Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Program is shifting from joint U.S.-Russian government oversight to Russian control, cooperation between firms from the two countries remains strong and opportunities for CTR work still exists for American companies, an industry executive said yesterday. Orbital ATK is continuing to collaborate with International Space […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 4/17/2015 A top Defense Department official told the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces this week that the U.S. is working with NATO’s conventional and nuclear planning groups on potential responses to Russia’s alleged violation of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. NATO is going to “look at this […]

Over the Future Years’ Defense Program, nuclear funding is projected to occupy the highest proportion of the Pentagon’s budget in Fiscal Year 2020, a top Pentagon official told House lawmakers yesterday. Robert Scher, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans and Capabilities, during a House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces hearing, said the Defense […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 4/10/2015 The Defense Department plans to compete individual upgrades for the long-range strike bomber (LRSB), Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Frank Kendall said during a Pentagon press briefing April 9. “I think we will have opportunity to compete technologies that can go into the bomber to a […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 Senior Air Force leaders met this week to discuss nuclear command and control (C2) and how it fits in with national command and control structure as part of an ongoing quarterly roundtable aimed at discussing issues in the nuclear enterprise, the service’s top enlisted official said during a breakfast speech […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 Ending months of speculation among industry executives, the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center (AFNWC) reorganized on March 30, creating two new directorates in addition to its existing ICBM Systems Directorate (NI) in an effort to streamline communication, roles and responsibilities, and depart from a more diffuse previous structure, an AFNWC […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 Gen. Robin Rand will move from his job as commander of Air Education and Training Command at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, to command Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) sometime this summer. He was confirmed by the Senate late last week. The assignment will boost AFGSC from a three- […]

The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center on March 30 reorganized its structure, creating an Air Delivered Capabilities Directorate, a Nuclear Technology and Interagency Directorate, and a Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) Division within the existing ICBM Systems Directorate, according to an Air Force announcement yesterday. Air Force Program Action Directive 14-06 dictated the changes, geared toward […]

The Senate on Friday confirmed Gen. Robin Rand to serve as commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, boosting the command to a four-star billet for the first time in its six-year history. The Senate also confirmed Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson to serve as Deputy Commander of U.S. Strategic Command. Rand becomes the fourth commander […]

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh on Friday announced four leadership changes, pending Congressional confirmation, at U.S. Strategic Command. Brig. Gen. Anthony Cotton, Deputy Director of the National Reconnaissance Office and commander of Air Force Element, National Reconnaissance Office, Chantilly, Va., has been selected for the rank of major general and for the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 3/27/2015 OGDEN, UTAH—Air Force nuclear missileers are maintaining a safe, secure and effective deterrent, but are doing so at a “diminished margin,” Dr. Jamie Morin, Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, said here at last week’s TRIAD forum. “That’s the most […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 3/27/2015 The Air Force has programmed a plus-up of about $5.6 billion for its nuclear enterprise over the Future Years’ Defense Program (FYDP), some of which would presumptively fund the procurement of close to 100 long-range strike bombers, but the Budget Control Act (BCA) could force the service to reduce to […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 3/27/2015 In the latest of a series of announced leadership shuffles in the Air Force’s Nuclear Enterprise, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter last week announced that President Obama has nominated Maj. Gen. Jack Weinstein, 20th Air Force commander, for promotion to the rank of lieutenant general and assignment as deputy chief of […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 3/27/2015 Montana Sens. Steve Daines (R) and Jon Tester (D) expressed disappointment this week about the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) decision to approve the Air Force’s proposed expansion of the Powder River Training Complex (PRTC). B-1s housed at Ellsworth AFB and B-52s housed at Minot AFB currently use the area, which […]

A March 20 story incorrectly noted that Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker was relieved of his duties as commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet’s Naval Air Force (CNAP). The Internet version of the story was corrected on March 24 to show that Capt. Heather Cole was relieved of her duties as commander of Strategic Communications Wing 1 […]

Montana Sens. Steve Daines (R) and Jon Tester (D) expressed disappointment yesterday about the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) decision to approve the Air Force’s proposed expansion of the Powder River Training Complex (PRTC). B-1s housed at Ellsworth AFB and B-52s housed at Minot AFB currently use the area, which spans approximately 9,600 horizontal square miles. […]

Adm. Cecil Haney, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, yesterday underscored the importance of “stable, predictable funding” in sustaining the nuclear triad, as Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) introduced the Smarter Approach to Nuclear Expenditures (SANE) Act this week. The bill would cut nuclear weapons spending by $100 billion over the next […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 3/20/2015 Vice Adm. Mike Shoemaker, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s Naval Air Force (CNAP), relieved Capt. Heather Cole of her duties as the commander of Strategic Communications Wing 1 (SCW 1) and Task Force 124 (TF 124) at Tinker AFB, Okla., on March 17, because of a “loss in the […]

The Air Force has programmed a plus-up of about $5.6 billion for its nuclear enterprise over the Future Years’ Defense Program, but an active Budget Control Act could force the service to cut that number down to about $4 billion, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said yesterday. “We would lose between $1 and $2 […]

In the latest of a series of announced leadership shuffles in the Air Force’s nuclear enterprise, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on Friday announced that President Barack Obama has nominated Maj. Gen. Jack Weinstein, 20th Air Force commander, for promotion to the rank of lieutenant general and assignment as deputy chief of staff for strategic deterrence […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 3/20/2015 Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson has been nominated to serve as the next deputy commander of U.S. Strategic Command. Wilson has commanded Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) since October 2013, during which he advocated for an across-the-board portfolio of nuclear modernization for the air- and ground-based legs of the nuclear […]

Defense Secretary Ash Carter has tapped Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson, who has commanded Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) since October 2013, as the next deputy commander for U.S. Strategic Command, according to a service announcement. After former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel last year announced the boost of AFGSC from a three- to a four-star […]

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh joined the three other service chiefs and all four military secretaries yesterday in pushing to the full House Armed Services Committee the military’s case to bust the Budget Control Act caps, specifically highlighting obsolete nuclear infrastructure and an aging bomber fleet. “We don’t have the B-52 in […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 3/6/2015 President Barack Obama has nominated Gen. Robin Rand for commander of Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), a post currently held by Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson, according to a Feb. 27 announcement by Defense Secretary Ashton Carter. Rand has more than 5,000 flight hours, primarily in F-16s, T-38s and T-37s, […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 3/6/2015 B-2 availability is increasing because of about 20 projects that help the Air Force manage its signature and parts supply, Lt. Gen.  Mike Holmes, Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Plans and Requirements told members of the House Armed Services Seapower and Projection Subcommittee on March 4. Holmes […]

The Air Force has nominated Global Strike Command’s Director of Operations to be the command’s next Vice Commander, according to an announcement by the service. Maj. Gen. Michael Fortney would replace current Vice Commander Maj. Gen. Richard Clark, who is shifting into Maj. Gen. Scott Vander Hamm’s 8th Air Force Commander slot, according to an […]

President Barack Obama has nominated Gen. Robin Rand for commander of Global Strike Command, a post currently held by Lt. Gen. Stephen Wilson, according to an announcement made by Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on Friday. Rand, a four-star general, currently commands Air Education and Training Command at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, where he is […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 More than three dozen Air Force senior leaders convened at Minot AFB on Feb. 20 for the quarterly meeting of the Nuclear Oversight Board (NOB), whose creation was announced by former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel in November, days before announcing his resignation, according to an Air Force press release. “We […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 2/27/2015 The Defense Threat Reduction Agency denied this week any plans to use the Yucca Mountain site for testing related to catastrophe scenario studies. Although DTRA confirmed that officials recently visited the site, the agency denied recent reports that claimed DTRA and the Department of Energy were in talks that […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 2/27/2015 The Defense Department is reviewing the top three modernization plans of each leg of the nuclear triad as officials grapple with a tight budget environment while nuclear weapon systems are aging out of their service lives and modernization bills are coming due, according to the Navy’s top enlisted official. During […]