Threats

The Air & Space Brief: B-2s grounded; New Aerojet suitor; B-21 capabilities

Jennifer Hlad

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Jennifer Hlad
By Jennifer Hlad
Senior News Editor, Defense One

Welcome to the Defense One Air and Space newsletter. Here are our top stories this week:  

B-2 stand-down: The U.S. Air Force has grounded all its B-2 Spirits, and the only runway at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri—the bombers’ home base—remains closed after a Dec. 10 mishap. There is “no speculated end date for the safety pause,” a spokesperson for the 509th Bomb Wing told Defense One. A few more details, here. 

L3Harris proposes to buy Aerojet Rocketdyne: L3Harris Technologies has entered a $4.7 billion agreement to buy Aerojet Rocketdyne, two years after the Biden Administration blocked a deal with Lockheed Martin worth $300 million less, Defense One’s Marcus Weisgerber reports. ‘We have the scale and the strength to invest in people, processes, R&D,” L3Harris CEO Chris Kubasik said Monday. “We all know competition spurs innovation.” Read on, here. 

Not like other bombers: The new B-21 Raider will be more than just a conventional bomber, and will be critical to challenging China, Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin told Air & Space Forces Magazine in an interview. “The B-21 could be the delivery platform [for precision ordnance] or there could be other roles that it could play, whether it be sensor, or whether it be accompanied with different types of collaborative combat aircraft,” Allvin told the magazine. 

Sign up to get the Air & Space Brief every Tuesday from Defense One. On Dec. 20, 1950, twelve C-54s Skymasters evacuated about 1,000 Korean orphans from Kimpo Airfield near Seoul to Cheng Do island as part of Operation Christmas Kidlift.  

From Defense One

B-2 Bomber Fleet Grounded Indefinitely // Jennifer Hlad

U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command ordered the stealth-bomber stand-down in response to Dec. 10 mishap.

Aerojet Rocketdyne Has a New Suitor. Will the Biden Administration Approve? // Marcus Weisgerber

L3Harris Technologies has entered a $4.7 billion deal to acquire the rocket manufacturer.

A Wireless Intelligence Community 'On The Horizon,' Official Says // Lauren C. Williams

Getting there is a matter of appropriately protecting data and tweaking policies to allow for wireless secret- and top-secret networks.

NEXT STORY: Today's D Brief: Zelenskyy visits frontline troops; Russians’ growing doubts; Jan. 6 charges for Trump?; Shutdown watch; and a bit more.

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