22 mai 2024 | International, Sécurité
Researchers Warn of Chinese-Aligned Hackers Targeting South China Sea Countries
Unfading Sea Haze targets high-level organizations in South China Sea countries since 2018.
25 juillet 2019 | International, Autre défense
Newly installed SecDef: The budget deal provides a ‘good’ number for defense
By: Aaron Mehta
WASHINGTON – Newly installed U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper says he is happy with the two-year budget deal's recommendation for the Pentagon, despite it being $12 billion less than what the White House requested for fiscal 2020.
Speaking to press just hours after taking office, Esper also said he is focused on filling empty spots at the Pentagon as quickly as possible to “make sure we have that civilian control of the military” firmly in place.
The Trump administration's request for defense in FY20 was $750 billion, a number Democrats in Congress tried to reduce to $733 billion.
The nearly $1.4 trillion spending plan announced Monday — which would prevent a government shutdown this fall and do away with the final two years of budget caps known as sequestration — includes about $738 billion in military funding for FY20. That's a 3 percent increase from current-year levels, which seems fine with the man now running America's military.
“$738 [billion] is a good number. We also have two years. We expect to see two years' worth of numbers. To the degree we have predictability, to the degree we can avoid [continuing resolutions], those things allow us to plan and make more efficient use of our dollars,” Esper said. “So I'm good with those dollars. No complaints.”
Esper is the first confirmed defense secretary since Jim Mattis resigned at the end of last year. But a number of spots — including 14 of 59 political spots, and four of the top six roles in the department — are still filled by acting individuals, something Esper highlighted as an issue he's hoping to quickly address.
“My perspective was from a service secretary and I think it's always challenging — people in acting jobs, when you don't feel the full confidence in the role, sometimes folks tend to maybe not behave as confidently because you're unsure and you also don't want to bind the person-who-may-actually-be-confirmed's hands,” he said, adding he does not think the open spots impacted operations.
“We need to get staffed up quickly,” he said. “We have to get stable leadership.”
One of those empty spots is Army secretary, now vacant with Esper's promotion. Ryan McCarthy, the service undersecretary, has been nominated to fill the full role. Asked about advice for his successor, Esper joked that he hopes McCarthy won't “break anything,” before saying he expects McCarthy's nomination to arrive at the Senate in a “matter of days.”
“His paperwork is at the White House, and everybody we put forth needs to be thoroughly vetted. So I think he should soon be coming out of the process,” Esper said. “The question is if it will be soon enough for the Senate Armed Services Committee to do its due diligence in a timely matter.”
The secretary has also asked for new guidance to be issued to the field to inform service members on the “very important role of media and press” in society.
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18 juin 2021 | International, Aérospatial
Another Boeing-Airbus tanker war is coming soon
The Air Force wants to buy as many as 160 KC-Y tankers after it's finished with KC-46 production. Both Airbus and Boeing are ready to compete.
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29 octobre 2019 | International, Aérospatial
The US Air Force’s X-37B spaceplane lands after spending two years in space
By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — In the early morning hours of Oct. 27, the U.S. Air Force's X-37B spaceplane landed at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida after a record-breaking 780 days in orbit. What was the Boeing-made plane doing in space for the two years it spent circling Earth? On that point, the Air Force is characteristically elusive, describing the X-37B's activities as “on-orbit experiments” in a news release. “The X-37B continues to demonstrate the importance of a reusable spaceplane,” Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett said. “Each successive mission advances our nation's space capabilities.” According to the Air Force, the unmanned spaceplane is unique because it allows scientists to test experimental technologies in space for long periods of time. One of those technologies confirmed to be on board the X-37B is the Advanced Structurally Embedded Thermal Spreader, or ASETS-11, created by the Air Force Research Laboratory to “test experimental electronics and oscillating heat pipes in the long duration space environment,” the service said in 2017. “This program continues to push the envelope as the world's only reusable space vehicle. With a successful landing today, the X-37B completed its longest flight to date and successfully completed all mission objectives,” said Randy Walden, head of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. “This mission successfully hosted Air Force Research Laboratory experiments, among others, as well as providing a ride for small satellites.” X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle Mission 5 ended at 3:51 a.m. after the spaceplane landed on the runway of Kennedy's shuttle landing facility on Sunday. That mission began Sept. 7, 2017, when the X-37B took off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket — marking the first launch of the X-37B by Elon Musk's space company. So far, the X-37B has spent 2,865 days on orbit cumulatively over its five missions, with four of those missions extending past the 270-day on-orbit duration requirement to which the plane was designed. The Air Force plans to launch a sixth mission in 2020 out of Cape Canaveral. The service has two X-37Bs, which Walden characterized as “workhorses” during a Oct. 24 event, according to Breaking Defense. When asked whether the Air Force should buy additional spacecraft or execute a follow-on order, Walden was noncommittal. “The data is still out,” he said, adding that the two existing X-37Bs are “doing quite well.” https://www.defensenews.com/space/2019/10/28/the-air-forces-x-37b-spaceplane-finally-landed-after-spending-two-years-in-space/