AUiX

Chinese ships, aircraft, and technology are not as good as ours, but they are buying more and rapidly getting better. The dialogue agendas and discussions have also evolved, to include transformational technologies with AI top of mind. Unquestionably, as we move deeper into the AI modernization war, Beijing is buying in that space and doubling down. https://lnkd.in/eK9GiGyw

DIU issued a solicitation to industry Friday via its commercial solutions opening contracting mechanism to support an effort called Thunderforge. https://lnkd.in/gRdYr-Rg

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An era began 70 years ago on Aug. 23 when Lockheed test pilots Stan Beltz and Roy Wimmer, along with flight engineers Jack Real and Dick Stanton, took the new YC-130 prototype on its maiden voyage from Burbank, Calif., to Edwards Air Force Base about 50 miles east. They took off after just 855 feet of runway, “an astoundingly short distance considering most aircraft of that size required 5,000 feet,” Lockheed Martin later wrote. https://lnkd.in/etTn_eWy

No one was injured during the incident, but the 931st Air Refueling Wing to which the KC-46 is assigned did say in a release that the aircraft landed with its boom down at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., and dropped a “portion” of the boom nearby the base. https://lnkd.in/epBS7VzX

As the services grapple with increasing numbers of overweight troops in the ranks, booting fast food restaurants from bases could help cut obesity rates in the armed forces, according to the U.S. military’s top enlisted official. https://lnkd.in/eGh55wKU

Ramzan Kadyrov, described by CNN as the "warlord leader" of the Russian region of Chechnya, figured out exactly what's been missing from the Cybertruck all along: a machine gun. https://lnkd.in/eK59ZxKr

In the Pacific, Pentagon assessments note the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has the ballistic and cruise missiles to target regional air bases, ports, and ground infrastructure in Japan and the Philippines, as well as U.S. bases as far away as Guam. In a major contingency in the Taiwan Strait, the USAF must be able to sink ships and destroy adversary aircraft. It will be difficult to sustain that effort if American pilots have nowhere to land. https://lnkd.in/eWNSa6nk

The service wants to establish the command, to be led by a three-star general, by the end of this year. ICC is meant to centralize and streamline the Air Force’s process for setting future requirements, while freeing other commands to focus more on current needs. https://lnkd.in/eAmw5B4B

Ukraine is the first nation to have created a new military branch, the Unmanned Systems Forces of Ukraine. This is a pivotal moment akin to the creation of the world’s first air force, the Royal Air Force, formed on April 1, 1918, seven months before Britain’s victory in World War I. Ukraine’s use of drones is transforming warfare as fundamentally as airplanes once did. https://lnkd.in/eHH-3Ak2