Lt. Gen. John Shaw, deputy commander of U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM), said that it is crucial that Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2) integration efforts also cover space operations, Breaking Defense reported Friday.

Shaw said at a National Security Space Association event that while JADC2 focuses on terrestrial activities, it is also important to coordinate operations with those under Gen. James Dickinson, who serves as USSPACECOM’s commander.

He noted that it is crucial for weapon systems to communicate with each other to prevent threats such as directed-energy platforms, anti-satellite technology and electronic warfare systems.

“In its most basic essence, JADC2 is about making sure that all operations and all domains can rapidly share information with one another; be part of some sort of common picture,” said Shaw.

Lt. Gen. Salty Saltzman, deputy chief for operations, cyber and nuclear at the U.S. Space Force, noted at a Brookings Insittution event that it is vital to integrate space capabilities and decision-making into all-domain operations.

“Think about cloud-based data structures, think about common standards and interfaces,” he noted.

A new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report states that the size of the U.S. Navy’s submarine fleet is likely to exceed shipyards’ capacity to maintain the vessels in 25 to 30 years.

CBO said Thursday that the Navy has faced delays in submarine maintenance activities due to factors such as workforce shortage and increasing demands for maintenance in line with overhaul work.

According to CBO’s report, the Navy’s modified fiscal year 2020 shipbuilding plan directs the procurement of 61 attack submarines within 30 years. The new plan also envisions a fleet of over 400 warships by 2051.

Accurate maintenance scheduling could help the Navy improve submarine deployment planning while mitigating disruptions due to delays, according to CBO.

The agency also suggests reducing fleet size, driving workforce expansion efforts and sending submarines for private shipyard servicing.

Join Potomac Officers Club is hosting its 2021 Navy Forum on May 12th to showcase the most notable industry and federal leaders within the federal sector and discuss the initiatives, efficiencies and solutions that will enable the Navy to become more effective in warfare. Visit PotomacOfficersClub.com or click the banner above to register for the 2021 Navy Forum on May 12th. 

Maj. Gen. Craig Wills, commander of the U.S. Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command (AETC), said students have been performing better with the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II aircraft through virtual reality training.

Wills said USAF determined this from data of individuals who graduated from the Pilot Training Next (PNT) program, which put trainees in virtual and augmented reality training, Military.com reported Friday.

USAF launched the PTN experiment to see how students can train in an augmented reality environment. Forty-one pilots have graduated from PTN to date.

“For whatever reason, [students] tend to do better in F-35 and F-22-type courses comparatively [to] how they’ve done in the fourth-generation fighters,” Wills said Tuesday at a roundtable meeting.

The service branch has observed the benefits of virtual reality, but is still finding an optimal way to track students’ overall training progress.

NASA is considering its options to move to an earlier date for the launch of its Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft that is expected to be completed in October 2022, SpaceNews reported Friday.

Lunar Trailblazer, which is part of the agency's Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program, is a small lunar orbiter that has been cleared to transition to full-scale development after it passed the Key Decision Point C review in November.

The spacecraft will launch as a rideshare payload on the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. Development delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic pushed back the launch of IMAP from October 2024 to February 2025.

“We’re looking across the whole directorate, looking for another ride for Lunar Trailblazer; a little sooner, if that’s possible,” Lori Glaze, planetary science division director at NASA, said in response to a question about the possibility of launching the orbiter as a co-manifested payload on one of the Commercial Lunar Payload Service missions.

Glaze said Wednesday during a meeting of the Committee on Astrobiology and Planetary Science of the National Academies that NASA has not yet decided to take the spacecraft off the IMAP launch and is looking out for other launch opportunities for the orbiter.

Pete Buttigieg, secretary of the Department of Transportation (DoT), told lawmakers on Thursday about the need to address the country’s $1 trillion backlog of infrastructure projects, Nextgov reported Friday.

“Across the country, we face a trillion-dollar backlog of needed repairs and improvements, with hundreds of billions of dollars in good projects already in the pipeline,” Buttigieg told the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Thursday. “We see other countries pulling ahead of us, with consequences for strategic and economic competition.”

He appeared before the House panel as the current administration works on a $3 trillion investment package that seeks to address domestic and infrastructure priorities. President Biden is expected to provide details on the package during his trip to Pittsburgh this week.

Buttigieg told lawmakers that he would consider borrowing or using general fund revenues and user fees to help pay for the infrastructure package.