U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Scott Prouty, a fireteam member assigned to the 378th Expeditionary Security Force Squadron, provides cover fire for a U.S. Soldier with Task Force Americal from the 1st Battalion, 182nd Infantry Regiment, during a shooting drill at Prince Sultan Air Base, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Sept. 24, 2022. U.S. Air Force / Staff Sgt. Noah J. Tancer
The Air & Space Brief: Abortion leave for troops; Next CSO confirmed; C-130s grounded
Welcome to the Defense One Air and Space newsletter. Here are our top stories this week:
Abortion leave plan in the Senate: Democrats are re-upping their push to protect troops’ access to abortion with a plan from Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., that would let service members use convalescent leave to cross state lines and get an abortion. The amendment to the fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which has nearly two dozen Democratic co-sponsors, would ensure troops have at least 10 days for travel, and would also provide an allowance for transportation expenses under the Joint Travel Regulations.
State of the Air Force and Space Force: What does Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., think of the Biden administration’s pledge to not conduct anti-satellite tests in orbit? How is the Pentagon using lessons learned about space warfare in Ukraine to prepare for potential conflict with China? We covered these questions and much more during Defense One’s month-long State of Defense series. You can catch any events you missed on our website.
Raymond’s successor confirmed: The Senate last week approved Lt. Gen. Chance Saltzman’s nomination to be the next chief of space operations, setting him up to become the second officer to lead the young service. At his confirmation hearing last month, Saltzman talked about the service’s mission to absorb satellite communications responsibilities from other branches and his concerns that increasing launch traffic could clog military bases.
C-130s grounded: The Air Force last week grounded most of its C-130H cargo planes because of a problem with their propeller assemblies, Defense News reported. The service is conducting inspections to figure out how many aircraft are affected, which will help provide an estimate for how long it will take to fix the problem and get more than 100 planes back in the air.
Sign up to get The Air & Space Brief every Tuesday from Jacqueline Feldscher, Defense One’s Senior National Security Correspondent. On this day in 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the world’s first satellite.
From Defense One
What Surprised One Drone Maker About Russia's War on Ukraine // Patrick Tucker
Swarmly updates its unarmed, jam-resistant drones as new information comes in from Ukraine's battlefield.
Is Our Competitor 'China' or the Chinese Communist Party? // Jimmy Chien
We should carefully choose the words we use when discussing our strategic competitor.
US to Send 18 More HIMARS to Ukraine Under Latest $1B Aid Package // Tara Copp
But they won't be available for two years, Pentagon says.