LAS VEGAS—Tucked in a conference center on the outskirts of this growing technology hub, the Air Force is taking new steps to move multi-domain operations from a headquarters-level conversation to one tackled in all corners of the service. Multi-domain command and control, part of the broader multi-domain operations concept, has been one of the Air Force’s top focuses under Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein since 2016. It was the subject of a yearlong enterprise study that ran into 2017, then quietly morphed into a further research effort at Hanscom AFB, Mass. A recent gathering here hosted by AFWERX, an Air Force-owned innovation organization, aimed to streamline the process of connecting airmen with data-driven tools, even as bigger policy and operational questions are still being answered in the service’s top echelons. Read the full story by Rachel S. Cohen.

Two US service members were killed July 29 in Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced the same day. The Defense Department did not disclose the circumstances or the exact location of the incident, and will withhold the service members’ names until their next of kin is notified. This week’s deaths bring the total number of American service members killed in Afghanistan to 12 so far this year; 13 were killed in 2018. US combat operations have increased inside Afghanistan as the Taliban regains strength. Airstrikes there are on track to surpass last year’s total, which also represented a large increase over 2017. Violence in the country is growing ahead of Afghan presidential elections in September, including a July 28 bombing in Kabul that targeted current President Ashraf Ghani’s running mate and killed at least 20 people in the capital. —Brian Everstine

All 13 companies that pitched drone-focused technologies to the Air Force on July 24 walked away with a small-business contract, the service said in a recent release. The “Unmanned Aerial Systems Pitch Day” awarded businesses $975,000 in less than three hours, including one contract that was agreed to within five minutes. “Northeastern University facilities … provided the backdrop for presentations on small drones that can fit in tight spaces like fuel tanks, and swarms of drones that can autonomously team up to track people and vehicles,” the Air Force said July 25. The event builds on the service’s effort to roll out new counter-UAS systems to protect certain assets. “These technologies include payloads that can defeat other drones, payloads to sense weather hazards to help unmanned aircraft navigate safely, and systems that can counter large groups of drones that pose a security threat,” Northeastern University said in a release. A dozen Pitch Days are planned this year following the success of the first such event in March, Northeastern added. Air Force Digital Program Executive Officer Steve Wert aims to award contracts to at least 100 companies through events aimed at working with commercial and nontraditional contractors. —Rachel S. Cohen

C-130H Hercules aircraft will lend medical evacuation training and more to two separate military exercises in Europe for the next two weeks, the Air Force said July 28. One group, the 57th Airlift Squadron at Maxwell AFB, Ala., deployed to Romania’s Otopeni Air Base to practice collaborating with that nation during “Carpathian Summer.” The 158th Airlift Squadron from Savannah ANGB, Ga., as well as the 146th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron from Channel Islands ANGS, Calif., flew to Georgia’s Tbilisi Air Base for the multinational “Agile Spirit” exercise. “The brigade-level exercise will incorporate a simulated command post exercise, field training, and joint multinational battalion-level combined arms live-fire exercises,” according to a July 28 Defense Department release. “The training taking place during Agile Spirit ensures that US, allied, and partnered nations maintain our conventional deterrence capability with a combination of combat-ready forward forces.” About 3,300 military personnel from 14 allied and partner forces—including around 1,500 each from the US and Georgia—will participate. —Rachel S. Cohen