The Senate will likely hold a confirmation vote for Barbara Barrett, the nominee to become the Air Force’s next secretary, in mid-October. At 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 15, the chamber will decide whether to proceed to the final tally—expected on Oct. 16. Lawmakers set that schedule Sept. 26, the same day they confirmed Ryan McCarthy as the permanent Army secretary. Barrett and McCarthy jointly testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Sept. 12. Barrett, an aerospace executive and former diplomat, would replace Acting Secretary Matt Donovan, who took over when former USAF civilian boss Heather Wilson left at the end of May. While SASC passed Barrett’s nomination out of committee by voice vote, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said he would oppose her confirmation and put a hold on the process until she promises to create a policy to block Air Force spending at Trump-owned properties once confirmed. The senator pressed the nominee on the issue at her hearing, prompted by recent news reports on USAF stopovers at the Trump Turnberry resort in Scotland. —Rachel S. Cohen

Representatives from across the federal government will convene at the White House in November for a tabletop exercise aimed at improving interagency cooperation in space. The meeting this fall brings together officials at the highest echelons of government and builds on earlier tabletop iterations with the same players. US Space Command boss Gen. Jay Raymond indicated the upcoming tabletop will focus on how the federal government can share information about space to deter enemies from threatening US assets. Read the full story by Rachel S. Cohen.

The third US airstrike in a week targeting the Islamic State group in southwest Libya reportedly killed 17 fighters Sept. 26, a sign that the group is resurging in its former stronghold and that the US could resume routine US air operations in the area to counter the IS. An undisclosed airframe conducted the strike. The previous strikes, on Sept. 19 and Sept. 24, took place in the vicinity of Murzuq, in the same region. “This ongoing campaign against ISIS-Libya demonstrates that US Africa Command persistently targets terrorist networks that seek to harm innocent Libyans,” Navy Rear Adm. Heidi Berg, AFRICOM’s director of intelligence, said in a Sept. 27 release. AFRICOM believes 36 IS fighters died in the three incidents—the first US airstrikes in Libya in nearly a full calendar year. US forces in 2016 conducted an aerial operation dubbed “Odyssey Lightning” that largely targeted the IS in the seaside town of Sirte. The operation included MQ-9s and other services’ aircraft, and was followed by B-2s that flew from the US in 2017 to strike an IS training camp in the desert. When the bulk of the operation was wrapping up in 2016, AFRICOM warned the IS still posed an “evolving threat” to Libya. IS fighters have recently claimed responsibility for attacks targeting the Libyan military and civilians. Voice of America reported 500 to 750 fighters are active in the country. —Brian Everstine

The Air Force is in the market for “disruptive” new science and technology capabilities, and is offering a $14 million pot for the best ideas. The service on Sept. 26 announced “Air Force Explore” as part of its "Science and Technology 2030" strategy, which wants to draw transformational ideas from across the country “to become the Air Force we need,” Maj. Gen. William Cooley, commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory, in a Sept. 26 release. The service anticipates awarding four to seven contracts, each worth $1 million to $2 million, for suggestions focused on “global persistent awareness; resilient information sharing; rapid, effective decision making; complexity, unpredictability, and mass; and speed and reach of disruption and lethality,” according to the release. Submissions are due Nov. 11, and funds will be doled out by March 2020. Air Force Explore is a joint effort between AFRL, the Air Force Warfighter Integration Capability planning organization, and the Air Force’s acquisition boss. —Brian Everstine