Air Force Magazine
Daily Report for Oct. 7, 2020

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Edited by Rachel S. Cohen with Brian W. Everstine and Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

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Most Joint Chiefs in Quarantine After Possible COVID-19 Exposure
By Brian W. Everstine

Several senior military officials, including Air Force Chief of Staff Gen.
Charles Q. Brown Jr. and Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay”
Raymond, are quarantining at home after a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
tested positive for the coronavirus on Oct. 5. Coast Guard Vice Commandant Adm.
Charles Ray was tested “after feeling mild symptoms over the weekend,” the
service said. He will quarantine at home as well. “The Coast Guard is
following established policies for COVID, per [Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention] guidelines, to include quarantine and contact tracing,” according
to an Oct. 6 Coast Guard release. “Any Coast Guard personnel that were in
close contact will also quarantine.”

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L3Harris, SpaceX to Build SDA’s First Missile-Tracking Satellites
By Rachel S. Cohen

L3Harris and SpaceX won contracts Oct. 5 to provide the first ballistic missile
warning satellites for the Space Development Agency, growing the number of
companies working on the future military constellation to four. L3Harris
received $193.6 million and SpaceX got $149.2 million to design, develop, and
launch satellites that use wide-view, overhead persistent infrared sensors to
see and track missile launches, SDA said in a release. As companies gradually
build more and more of the systems, they will comprise a group of satellites
known as the “tracking layer” in low Earth orbit.

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Hurricane Delta Aims for Gulf Coast Bases
By Rachel S. Cohen

Air Force bases in the southeastern United States are again hunkering down for a
hurricane aimed at the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Delta, a Category 4 storm that may
still strengthen, is slated to hit southeast Louisiana on Oct. 9 and cause a
“life-threatening storm surge and dangerous hurricane-force winds,”
particularly in Louisiana and Mississippi, according to the National Hurricane
Center.

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Edwards AFB Goes ‘Hybrid’ for First Air Show in Over a Decade
By Brian W. Everstine

Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., this week is hosting a first-of-its-kind air
show, bringing together real demonstrations with a large virtual outreach
program to encourage science, technology, engineering, and math education in
southern California. The base was set to host its first on-base air show in 11
years this month, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced the 412th Test Wing to change
its plans. Instead, the base is holding the Aerospace Valley Hybrid
Air Show, which includes virtual lessons for area students in kindergarten
through 12th grade, and jets will fly over the base and nearby cities.

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Virtual Events: Albright on Mitchell’s Nuclear Deterrence Forum, and More
By Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory

On Oct. 8 at 10 a.m. EDT, the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute for
Aerospace Studies will host a Nuclear Deterrence Forum featuring David Albright,
founder and president of the Institute for Science and International Security.
Tune in for his unique perspective on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the latest on
the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and the implications of Iran’s
continued expansion of its ballistic missile inventory, among other topics. You
can register for the live webinar <a
href="[link removed]">here.</a>

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Radar Sweep

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Snapshot: DOD and COVID-19

Here's a look at how the Defense Department is being impacted by and responding
to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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US Sees ‘Important Progress’ in Helsinki Nuclear Arms Talks

The top U.S. negotiator in nuclear arms control talks with Russia held in
Helsinki says a one-day follow-up meeting to earlier talks in Austria has
yielded “important progress.” Amb. Marshall Billingslea, President Donald J.
Trump’s special envoy for arms control, gave the upbeat view in an Oct. 6
tweet, a day after the talks in the Finnish capital with Russian Deputy Foreign
Minister Sergei Ryabkov. He gave no further detail.

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NNSA Buys New Supercomputer to Protect Nuclear Stockpile

Worth more than $100 million, Crossroads will support predictive weapons
calculations and replace an aging system.

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Iran Sees Venezuela's Unrest as Chance to 'Create Mischief,' US General Says

Iran's involvement in Venezuela has increased significantly in recent months, to
include sending members of its elite Quds Force into the country, according to a
top U.S. military leader who oversees operations in the region.

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OPINION: China’s Arctic Gambit a Concern for US Air and Space Forces

“Most of us view the Mercator map and cannot comprehend the centrality of
Arctic air routes to the Northern Hemisphere and the marked advantages the
physics provide, but spacefarers know better,” writes Air Force General
Counsel Thomas E. Ayres. “China’s government also understands. It may even
know the quote from early Air Corps founder Billy Mitchell: ‘whoever holds
Alaska will hold the world. I think it is the most important strategic place in
the world.’”

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F-15EX Radar Win Buoys Raytheon Market Hopes

Raytheon Technologies hopes its new contract with Boeing for an initial eight
radar systems for the F-15EX is only a first step and that its AN/APG-82 radar
gets tapped for the entire future fleet, says Michelle Styczynski, F-15 senior
product line director for Raytheon Intelligence & Space.

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Mitchell Institute’s Aerospace Nation Featuring Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Ron Epstein

Ron Epstein, managing director in equity research at Bank of America Merrill
Lynch, joins Douglas A. Birkey, executive director of the Air Force
Association’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, to discuss how the
defense industry is responding to the challenge laid out by Air Force Chief of
Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. to “go fast,” to what extent companies are
embracing digital engineering in response to the Air Force’s new eSeries
initiative, and the impacts of COVID-19 on the aerospace industry, among other
topics, as part of the think tank’s “Aerospace Nation” series.

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PSC Says Some Provisions in NDAA Could ‘Significantly Improve’ What DOD Gets from Contractors

In a new letter to the leaders of the House and Senate Armed Services
committees, the Professional Services Council, an industry group, says it
supports several provisions in the House and Senate versions of the defense
policy bill. The group urges the committees as they hash out the two bills to
maintain certain elements, including one in the Senate bill that repeals a bid
protest pilot program that called for losing protestors to cover the cost.

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OPINION—Worth Preserving: US Military Posture in Germany

“Any adjustments to U.S. force posture in Europe should focus first and
foremost on sustaining or strengthening readiness,” write Bradley Bowman,
senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation
for Defense of Democracies, and retired Army Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, the Pershing
Chair in Strategic Studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis.

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Biloxi Police Investigating After Weapon Reportedly Fired Outside Keesler Air Force Base

Biloxi Police are investigating after shots were reportedly fired outside
Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. A man was seen firing a gun in the area of
Kensington Drive around 9 a.m., said Maj. Chris Deback with the Biloxi Police
Department.

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Postal Service Ready to Deliver Holiday Cheer to Service Members Worldwide

With the holiday season approaching, the U.S. Postal Service has announced its
mailing dates for 2020.

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One More Thing...
Russian Flight Test Center Flew a ‘Cabriolet’ Su-57 Fighter Jet

Flying a Su-57 minus the canopy was likely related to an evaluation of the
jet’s emergency escape procedures.

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