X-37B to be Launched on Seventh Mission

On 2 November 2023,it was announced by the Air Force News Service that the Boeing X-37B space plane would be launched on a Space X Falcon Heavy rocket on 7 December 2023 from the NASA Kennedy Space Center.It is the first time the space plane will be launched on a Falcon Heavy,indicating the unprecedented weight of the cargo.The Department of the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office is partnering with the US Space Force on the mission,which has a wide range test and experimentation objectives.These tests include operating the reuseable space plane in new orbital regimes;experimenting with future space domain awareness technologies;and investigating the radiation effects on materials provided by NASA.* Said X37-B Program Director Lt.Col. Joseph Fitscher:We are excited to expand the envelope of the reuseable X-37B's capabilities,using the flight-tested service module and Falcon Heavy rocket to fly multiple cutting-edge experiments for the Department of the Air Force and its partners.*X-37B Mission 7,aka Orbital Test Vehicle-7,will expand the United States Space Force's knowledge of the space environment by experimenting with future space domain awareness technologies.These tests are integral to ensuring safe,stable,and secure operations in space for all users of the domain,AFNS said.For his part,Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzmann said:The X-37B continues to equip the United States with the knowledge to enhance current and future space operations.X-37B Mission 7 demonstrates the USSF's commitment to innovation and defining the art of the possible in the space domain.*NASA's experiment will expose plant seeds to the harsh radiation environment of long-duration spaceflight.The Seeds-2 experiment will build upon prior experiment successes to pave the way for future crewed missions to deep space destinations.The previous X-37B Mission 6 introduced a service module that expanded the spacecraft's capabilities and allowed it to host more experiments than any other previous mission.*Director of the DAF RCO,William B. Bradley,said that:The X-37B and Boeing teams have worked together to produce a more responsive,flexible,and adaptive experimentation platform.The work they've done to streamline processes and adapt evolving technologies will help our nation learn a tremendous amount about operating in and returning from a space environment.*So it may be inferred that the OTV-7 will continue to develop space surveillance capabilties.* On 20 October 2023,the Space Operations Command (SpOC) unveiled its first official painting,"High Ground Intercept" during a ceremony at Peterson Space Force Base,Colorado.SpOC provides orbital warfare and intelligence capabilities to the USSF.The painting depicts a delta-shaped space plane called a "future intercept vehicle" opening its payload bay doors as it moves into position to engage an adversary satellite that is targeting a friendly spacecraft.Artist Rich Hunter was commissioned to create the painting without access to classified materials.It would be fair to assume that OTV-7 will also enhance USSF's orbital warfare capabilities along with space domain awareness.Indeed,the painting,which this blog has studied,depicts a space plane that is a fair approximation of the X-37B itself.* Boeing (BA)

US Space Command to Reach Full Operational Capability In August - Via Satellite

US Space Command to Reach Full Operational Capability In August: U.S. Space Command is set to achieve full operational capability (FOC) this month, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. Air Force Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the

Heading for the Hills:Homeland Defence Forces Take Special Precautions

In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, the Pentagon's homeland defence forces have gone to the highest level of health protection in order to safeguard personnel capable of deterring and responding to adversarial threats,as well as to the pandemic at hand.These troops include those of US NORTHCOM and NORAD.
NORTHCOM and NORAD Commander GEN Terrence O'Shaughnessy, US Air Force,told a Facebook Live town hall with his personnel:
To ensure that we can defend the homeland despite the pandemic, our command and watch teams here in the headquarters have been split into multiple shifts, and portions of our watch team began working from Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, creating a third team at an alternate location as well.
Our dedicated professionals of the NORAD and NORTHCOM command and control watch have left their homes, said goodbye to their families and are isolated from everyone to ensure that they can stand watch each and every day to defend our homeland.It's certainly not optimal, but it's absolutely necessary and appropriate given the situation.
This is a marathon, not a sprint.
My primary concern was...Are we going to have space inside the mountain for everybody who wants to move in there, and I'm not at liberty to discuss who's moving in there.*
Other sites national security personnel may be relocating to include the Raven Rock Mountain Complex (Site R) in Southcentral Pennsylvania and Mount Weather, Virginia.Both impressive bunkers are hidden in the Appalachian​ Mountains.Another possibility for isolation may be found at Camp Peary,officially called the Armed Forces Experimental Training Activity,a US Navy holding in York County, Virginia that serves as a training base for the CIA and the DIA.The highly classified 9,000 acre compound includes a 1500 m/ 5,000 foot runway that has been used by CIA aircraft.*
Other military personnel known to be isolating include B-52H Stratofortress bomber crews; ballistic missile submarine crews; ICBM personnel; and certain Special Operations Forces units.*
NORAD and US NORTHCOM normally operate out of Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado."

Special Report:US Army Green Berets,Afghan Special Forces Killed in Joint NATO-Afghan Raid

Early on Thursday,3 November 2016,five Special Operations Forces members,including two US Army Green Berets and three Afghan Special Forces members,died in heavy combat with Taliban militants in Kunduz Province,Northern Afghanistan.The joint NATO-Afghan counterterror raid targeted senior Taliban commanders.It ended when airstrikes by both Afghan and then,when the Afghans did not succeed by themselves,NATO aircraft,were called in to rescue friendly forces surrounded by enemy fire,according to the Afghan Defence Ministry.*
Killed in the battle were Captain Andrew D. Byers,30,of Rolesville,North Carolina and Sergeant First Class Ryan A. Gloyer,34,of Greenville,Pennsylvania.CAPT Byers and SGT Gloyer were assigned to 2nd Battalion,10th Special Forces Group(Airborne),Fort Carson,Colorado.The 10th Special Forces Group(Airborne) conducts combat,unconventional warfare,special reconnaissance and foreign internal defence missions focused mainly in the US European Command Area of Responsibility.Since 9-11,they have seen action in both the Afghan and Iraq Wars,as well as service in Africa.*
Reports of up to 24 civilians being killed in the battle are being investigated by the US State Department.The Kunduz Provincial Police said the Islamist extremist Taliban took refuge in civilian homes in the village of Buze Kandahari,where the battle was concentrated,using them as human shields.Buze Kandahari is near Kunduz city,a frequent flash point in the 15 year-long conflict.

3rd Brigade Combat Team Leaves for Kuwait;Recidivist Former Detainee Killed in Afghanistan

The US Army's 3rd Brigade Combat Team held a farewell ceremony at Fort Carson,Colorado on Valentine's Day prior to leaving for Kuwait to serve as the US Central Command's Reserve force for the Middle East.More than 4,000 soldiers,along with their M-1 tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles,would be the first large scale combat unit to go in and confront ISIL in Iraq,should an emergency arise.Many of the troops are Iraq War veterans.The US withdrew its forces from Iraq in 2011,but has since sent in 2600 service members to train,advise and assist Iraqi and Kurdish forces in Operation Inherent Resolve,the multi-national anti-ISIL mission.
The Combat Team will also be available for humanitarian assistance and training of other armies in the region.The unit is confident and taking pride in being ready for any contingency.*
Last week,ISIL captured most of the strategic Iraqi town of al-Baghdadi,important for being located only nine miles from al-Asad Air Base,where 320 US Marines are stationed on a training mission.Fighting outside the town continues.Twenty to twenty-five ISIL militants and up to eight suicide bombers attacked the base dressed in Iraqi uniforms.According to the Pentagon,the militants apparently got to the base's outer perimeter and opened up with indirect fire.US helicopters were dispatched to the area,but didn't need to fire a shot.The Iraqi security force handled the militants admirably,killing most of them.
There are multiple entrances to the huge base,and it has been attacked many times over the years.It is pretty hard to penetrate a base of that size.As for indirect fire,rockets are usually fired by militants from a handmade rail,and their mortar fire is inaccurate without a forward observer,said General Mark Hertling,US Army Retired.
In any event,the area they attacked was some distance from the Marines' location. Still,they will probably attempt another assault on the base.*
ISIL is spreading its influence throughout the Middle East and beyond.It is now active to varying degrees in Afghanistan,Pakistan,Algeria,Libya,Yemen,Egypt,Iraq and Syria.Their presence in Afghanistan is nascent at best,said Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby last week.It's more aspirational than anything else.
All the same,US forces in Afghanistan conducted a precision strike in Helmand Province,resulting in the death of eight people engaged in hostile activity against US and Afghan forces,including Abdul Rauf Khadim,a former Taliban commander.Khadim was captured by US troops in Afghanistan in 2001.He was imprisoned at the Guantanamo Bay facility and,upon his release in 2007,returned to his Taliban militant activities.Then last month,he swore allegiance to ISIL.He joined ISIL no more than a couple weeks ago,RADM Kirby indicated.

A NORAD Response to Intrusion

Working in my office one recent July morning,I heard a loud jet aircraft engine.It must be a fighter protecting Camp David,I thought.Indeed,a few moments later I observed the hefty warplane,an F-15E,heading south towards the presidential retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains.
The F-15E was actually one of two NORAD fighters that were intercepting a civilian plane intruding on restricted air space over and near the weekend White House.The NORAD interceptors escorted the intruder to Carroll County Regional Airport in Maryland.The pilot was interviewed by the U.S. Secret Service there and released,it having been determined he was blundering into the forbidden zone out of ignorance.A lengthy suspension of his pilot's certificate-typically 120 to 180 days-would follow.
There is always a 3 nautical mile/6.5 mile diameter prohibited area over the camp.When the president is at Camp David,the zone is expanded to 10 nautical miles/22 miles.Five of the nautical miles are totally off-limits;the outer 5 nautical miles are limited to specially cleared aircraft in communication with air traffic control,which the intruding Cessna 182 was not.
U.S. Marine guards provide terrestrial security at Camp David,which is administered by the U.S. Navy.
NORAD is the North American Aerospace Defense Command,a joint U.S.-Canadian organization that is charged with monitoring and defending the air,space and,more recently,the maritime,approaches and domains of the continent.It is based at Peterson Air Force Base,Colorado.Admiral James A. Winnefeld,U.S. Navy,is Commander of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command,while Canadian Lieutenant-General J.M. Duval,CMM,CD is Deputy Commander of NORAD.The organization was established in 1958 and was formerly based in the hardened Cheyenne Mountain Air Station.Today,the mountain site is used by NORAD for training and as an alternate HQ,and day to day operations are conducted at Peterson AFB.
NORAD received heightened relevance during the 9-11 crisis,its Cold War urgency having passed from the scene as the Communist Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact disintegrated.