ABOARD A U.S. AIR FORCE C-40 -- Ahead of an Oct. 23 meeting at which the National Space Council will vote on recommendations to the president on Space Force, a senior Pentagon official outlined his themes for the meeting. The thesis builds on information outlined a previously released document, the Section 1601 report, required by Congress, Deputy Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan told Aviation Week Oct. 19, en route to Washington. Aviation Week was invited to accompany senior Pentagon officials on an F-35 trip around the western U.S.

The government has not finalized cost for the new plan, “but we are very close to that,” Pentagon acquisition executive Ellen Lord told Aviation Week Oct. 19 en route to Luke AFB, Arizona.

The U.S. military should stop the aerial refueling of Saudi Arabian aircraft fighting in Yemen, and Congress should not OK most new arms sales to the nation, a Democratic senator says.